The NRL’s stance that players who’ve failed a head injury assessment can apply for an exemption from the 11-day stand-down period is a matter of “common sense”, says Bulldogs supremo Phil Gould.
Canterbury’s general manager of football has lifted the lid on the exemption the club is chasing for gun hooker Reed Mahoney and insisted having such an avenue available is imperative because initial testing “can’t be a million per cent accurate”.
Mahoney will need to receive an exemption to face the Eels on Monday after he failed a HIA in Sunday’s clash with the Roosters, becoming a victim of Joseph Suaalii lifting his knees abnormally high while running the footy.
READ MORE: Greg Norman kept in dark before LIV bombshell
READ MORE: The Cleary replacement Maroons icons fear most
READ MORE: Ex-Origin star’s monster ban for ‘unacceptable’ act
On Monday, superstar Manly fullback Tom Trbojevic became the first player to receive an exemption under the NRL’s new system, introduced on the cusp of round three.
“Understand this, understand this, with all the stuff around concussion and everything: the clubs are very vigilant on this, the medical staff are very vigilant on this,” Gould said on Wide World of Sports’ Six Tackles with Gus.
“No one’s putting their players at risk, all right? No one.”
Gould said it was sometimes legitimate to ask questions about the accuracy of diagnoses that rule players out due to head knocks, given how quickly they are made by the independent doctor who sits behind a TV screen in the Bunker, based permanently in a building in Sydney, miles away from the ground.
“But there has to be some common sense sometimes in who diagnoses, how they diagnose it and from where they diagnose these things at different times. It can’t be a million per cent accurate just looking at a film from across town on a video replay without actually examining the patient himself,” Gould said.
“To what level is the caution taken? That’s the game’s position, that it wants to take that cautious approach. They’re the rules everyone’s abiding by.
“But there has to be a process at some stage to challenge that if, in fact, the medical team … say, ‘No, look, he’s not showing any signs of concussion, he wasn’t concussed and we think that this has probably been misdiagnosed on this occasion’. Then (they must) present and prove that to be the case.”
Mahoney was only suffering grade-two concussion symptoms when referee Ashley Klein asked him to leave the field late in the first half, but the No.9 was soon ruled out of the match.
He’s hoping to be freed for round 15 to help steer the Bulldogs to victory over his former club for the first time.
Canterbury was beaten comprehensively by Parramatta when the sides met in round seven, losing 30-4.
Gus backs his Cleary replacement
“We’ve got an eight-day turnaround, the Bulldogs, and the doctor said that he could well qualify for criteria of being able to play in that time based on certain results,” Gould said of Mahoney, who helped guide the Eels to the 2022 grand final before joining the Bulldogs.
“He failed his HIA on the day but presented the next day with no systems, passed his protocols immediately there and he now becomes subject to an independent review on Friday, so they go and get an independent neurologist.
“He’s had no history of concussions, he’s never failed a HIA previously in his career.
“He’s not out of the woods yet; he’s still got to go and see the neurologist on Friday and (whether he faces the Eels) will be up to the neurologist.
“But given everything he’s done since the game, that’s why we’ve gone down this road.”
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!
The Mole’s Team of the Week: Fiery Bulldog Tevita Pangai Junior’s nod after State of Origin blooding
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
