The NRL is set to announce a mandatory stand down period for players suffering from concussion as early as Wednesday afternoon.
The Australian Rugby League (ARL) commission held talks on Tuesday night to discuss the implementation of this policy following a number of players who have sustained head knocks across the first two rounds of the season.
The Daily Telegraph’s David Riccio explained that the ARL have settled on a period of 11 days and the policy will most certainly come into effect.
“It would be significant because it would start to impact (whether players miss out) on one game or two games,” Riccio said on SEN 1170 Breakfast.
“There’s a range of other parameters and protocols around concussion to the point of saliva and blood testing players before returning.
“It’s a measurement of whether brain issues are still there after a concussion.
“When these meetings are held, (the ARL) don’t waste much time telling the clubs that they have rubber-stamped a new rule.
“We could hear something today if not tomorrow and that would be the most significant step they’ve taken (around concussion).
“It’s basically to protect themselves from what we are seeing in the AFL.”
The AFL was handed a class action lawsuit from up to 60 former players who allege that they have suffered life changing injuries sustained from concussions.
Riccio said the NRL must be prepared for teams to fall into significant trouble if several players are forced to miss at least two games for Category 1 concussions.
“It raises the prospect of what we are seeing with the Newcastle Knights,” he added.
“They have a massive injury problem right now to the point that they struggled to name their squad for this weekend.
“Throw in three to four concussions and sitting down for 11 days, you quickly run out of players.
“It’s all well and good to announce new concussion protocols but they also have to look at the impact of these rules.
“We’ll see younger players and far more inexperienced players getting their debut as a result of the new concussion rules.”
The AFL introduced a mandatory 12-day stand down period in 2021 for players who sustained concussions.
