A blow for Rugby Union....

[Fab Foodie]

Have you ever worked on a building site?

That's irrelevant!

 

[Fab Foodie]

I mostly agree with that; the problem is with long-term effects. Athletes very often are not aware of these, and research DOES progress - you cannot say that the first international rugby players knew they were risking dementia in their 40s.
It's even worse with young athletes starting out.

I think this is central to the debate, and these recent cases may in time change peoples attitudes to playing RU.
The ill-effects of many activities take time to show-through in a population to the extent that warrants any reconsideration of that activity. Working with Asbestos, Mercury, Thalidomide, Smoking etc. whereas other things like rock-climbing are a bit more self-evident.

 

[Tripster]

In that case sir, I applaud your use of rhetorical question, despite your poor northern education preventing you from knowing it!
yes just another one of those Frank Gallagher type, probably voted for Brexit too
Meanwhile:

I mostly agree with that; the problem is with long-term effects. Athletes very often are not aware of these, and research DOES progress - you cannot say that the first international rugby players knew they were risking dementia in their 40s.
It's even worse with young athletes starting out.

Nope and nor did World Rugby or the RFU so why should they be held accountable ? Make improvements now and for the future

 

[Tripster]

I agree, to a point. But racing motorcyclists wear leathers or better, body armour and very good helmets. There's a difference between taking a risk, and not mitigating it to the best of your/technology's ability and doing the TT course flat out and naked.

To be fair the high tech kit ain’t saving you on Ballascary. Leathers or naked the risk is very much the same if you hit a wall. To a racer the risk outweighs the adrenaline buzz, the excitement, the glory, everything. If you say you may die they will still race. If you say you may get dementia the player still plays. Difference been . Mcpint, Hicky, Harrison won’t take the Isle of Man to court years down the line for injuries sustained

 

[Fab Foodie]

Nope and nor did World Rugby or the RFU so why should they be held accountable ? Make improvements now and for the future

I hope that was implied in my original post those not directly stated.
What might they be? Maybe they should all play RL ;-)

 

[Tripster]

I think this is central to the debate, and these recent cases may in time change peoples attitudes to playing RU.
The ill-effects of many activities take time to show-through in a population to the extent that warrants any reconsideration of that activity. Working with Asbestos, Mercury, Thalidomide, Smoking etc. whereas other things like rock-climbing are a bit more self-evident.

Should the, for example, RFU be held accountable though even if they didn’t have medical evidence available at the time ?
There is a real possibility of dementia even if not playing contact sport. I disregard boxing here because I don’t think it’s comparable to any other contact sport other than MMA for example.

 

[Tripster]

I hope that was implied in my original post those not directly stated.
What might they be? Maybe they should all play RL ;-)

It was
In all honest League is a poor relation to Union now. Union was dire when I was playing. Big fat beer bellies and kick and chase stuff. League was fast, entertaining and full of athletes. It failed to expand and grow and Union is a bigger spectacle, played worldwide and the players are now superb athletes. Hate to say it but I would stick with Union.( That’s Rugby Union not the European one)

Policing the a
high tackles and attacks to the head are an obvious positive. I am not so sure about the shoulder charge. Unless it’s directed at the head then I feel it’s part of the game. A tackler can get his body position all wrong and his head positioned on the wrong side of the attackers body. His head collides with a hip, a knee, or is impacted into the ground as the attacker falls onto him. What happens then ? Penalise the tackler for crap execution ? Penalise the attacker for failing to preempt the crap body position and take evasive action and not land on his bonce ? It’s endless

 

[Fab Foodie]

Should the, for example, RFU be held accountable though even if they didn’t have medical evidence available at the time ?
There is a real possibility of dementia even if not playing contact sport. I disregard boxing here because I don’t think it’s comparable to any other contact sport other than MMA for example.

Well as I understand it, that's for the court-case to decide.

The link between boxing and brain damage has been evident for a while. If 2 consenting people agree to beating each-other about the head in the hope that one of them gets knocked-out knowing the potential damage, that's their look-out. Exciting though it is, I no longer watch boxing or any kind of fighting where being beaten on the bonce is part of the sport.

Much the same as the TT racer, however, he is primarily putting only himself at risk, not others (OK, Spectators can also be killed).

But, for RU, this seems like it's new evidence, and if the RFU were aware and did nothing about it, then they may have liability. If they did not, here is the warning shot to make changes to the game AND for players to better know the risks they are taking.
Seems quite straightforward to me.

However, it is also a team-game rather than an individual pursuit which also means that one side is causing damage to another as well.


EDITED - For clarity

 

[accountantpete]

Rugby League will have a lot to answer for then


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjLC_vqhfZ0

 

[Dirk]

I agree, to a point. But racing motorcyclists wear leathers or better, body armour and very good helmets. There's a difference between taking a risk, and not mitigating it to the best of your/technology's ability and doing the TT course flat out and naked.

You've obviously never chucked a bike up the road at 100mph+.
Leathers just keep all the mess in a nice package for the medics.

 

[Fab Foodie]

This was the chap I referred to earlier that was on the TV News yesterday:

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...at-i-know-now-id-have-been-a-lot-more-careful

Revealing in a number of ways....

Also:
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...interview-rugby-union-dementia-special-report

 

[lazybloke]

Have you ever worked on a building site?

I'm at one now.

Risks aren't routinely accepted until they've been significantly mitigated.

 

[matticus]

You've obviously never chucked a bike up the road at 100mph+.
Leathers just keep all the mess in a nice package for the medics.

I guess I just imagined the film of crashes that riders have been ambulanced away from, very much alive, and often to race again.
Not having raced motorbikes on public roads, I'm bound to be wrong, silly me ...

 

[Tripster]

Rugby League will have a lot to answer for then


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjLC_vqhfZ0

What a Wigan line up that was.... The Great Ellery in the centres, Edwards, Gregory to name a few.
Warrington had the biggest thug of all in Paul Cullen even worse when he moved into the pack. Good times

 

[matticus]

If you say you may get dementia the player still plays.

Well, maybe, maybe not.
Here's Steve Thompson from the original article:

“You see us lifting the World Cup and I can see me there jumping around. But I can’t remember it,” Thompson said. “I’d rather have just had a normal life. I’m just normal. Some people go for the big lights, whereas I never wanted that. Would I do it again? No, I wouldn’t. I can’t remember it. I’ve got no feelings about it.”
...
Thompson would not want his own children to play the game “the way it is at the moment” and that he regrets ever taking it up himself.