Rugby league players have raised the increased risk of brain injury associated with longer seasons to bolster crucial arguments in their long-running dispute with the NRL over a new collective bargaining agreement.
But the Rugby League Players’ Association (RLPA) will not use negotiations to push for the inclusion of explicit limits of full-contact training, even as they are increasingly adopted in other codes.
The move comes a week after the RLPA and its members escalated the division in the code by forgoing traditional game-day media obligations, to the frustrations of the sport’s power-brokers, broadcasters and much of the media.
The RLPA has called for an independent mediator to guide the parties towards an agreement after negotiations reached an impasse.
A central point of contention is the players’ desire to have veto rights over any NRL proposal to increase the length of the season. The NRL has promised to consult players over any changes to its schedule, but its proposed drafting only requires RLPA approval for an extension of more than two games.
NRL chief executive, Andrew Abdo, said last week the new agreement offered enhanced participation from players, including “increased agreement rights”.
The RLPA expressed its opposition based on the possible increase to players’ workload generally. However, on Tuesday Melbourne Storm prop and RLPA director, Christian Welch, raised the specific issue of brain injury. Academic studies have linked repetitive head impacts in contact sports to degenerative brain disease, which also looms as a potential source of financial liability for the game and is widely considered a threat to its longterm popularity.
“Am I being unreasonable in striving for the rights when it comes to CTE [Chronic traumatic encephalopathy] and concussion?” Welch told News Corp. “Is it unreasonable to strive for a safe workplace?”
A class action alleging negligence by English rugby league body Rugby Football League in protecting players against brain injury has been lodged, and similar actions against the AFL have commenced in Australia. A claim by former Newcastle Knights winger James McManus was settled in favour of the NRL club in 2021, two days before it was due to be heard in the NSW supreme court.
Prof Alan Pearce, a concussion expert from Latrobe University, agreed a longer season would naturally increase the risk of head knocks for players, but said the game as a whole needed to look beyond match schedules to protect players’ long-term health.
“People see the Thursday, Friday or Saturday night blockbuster, and then they go on with their week, whereas for the athletes, they still have training on those days,” Pearce said.
The NRL established a stricter 11-day post-concussion return-to-play protocol this year as well as new monitoring of contact training. Clubs are now required to appoint one head injury “spotter” and record every session, and vision of head knocks are shared with the NRL. Bulldogs backrower Viliame Kikau was the first player barred from playing due to a concussion suffered in training under the new monitoring procedures in March.
But Pearce said there was more work to be done. “Rugby league is still some way behind the NFL and rugby union in regulating that training environment,” he said.
An NRL working group has been established to identify the optimal amount of training and contact load for players, and consider sub-concussive head impacts between matches. It met for the first time two weeks ago, but its work – which is being undertaken with the support and input from the RLPA – is too late to inform negotiations for the current CBA. The RLPA hopes it will form part of discussions for the next round of bargaining in 2027.
