DENIS Betts believes rugby league’s new rules about concussion and head knocks will be proved to be the right thing when players can recall their careers.
The 13-a-side code is introducing a raft of changes from under-6 level to Super League to try and reduce the chances of sustaining what is a brain injury.
Limits on the amount of time players can spend on a field in a 12-month period, reducing tackle height to the armpit and below and independent concussion spotters at top flight games are some of the more drastic of the 44 adaptations.
But Betts, who played through Wigan’s golden era when smelling salts were often used after a head knock, believes the long-term benefits far outweigh any short-term moans.
He said: “Some players may say, ‘I don’t care, I just want to carry on playing.’ That’s because they don’t really understand it as they may be 17, 18 or 19 years of age and their only dream is to play rugby league.
“But our dream for them is they play rugby league and then they can remember it. Knowledge is power if you use it properly and understand it.
“I came with a gladiatorial concept. I thought more concussions were caused by people carrying the ball and being tackled by people hitting the hip or knee.
“The research showed me I was wrong. It also showed me there’s a responsibility in the game we have to be aware of and there has to be someone responsible when that collision happens.
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“You can’t recklessly now just go diving into somebody and players are not going to be picked up and sent back out, they’re not going to be brought around with smelling salts and sent back out.
“This game’s built on change. We have to support that. It can’t be about calling people out and saying the game’s going soft.
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“Defence can’t all be led by emotion or ‘Just get off the line and hit things.’ There’s got to be control in that. I played under the five-metre rule and I got whacked in the head quite a lot. That was the game then but our understanding is our power.”
Betts is joined by fellow former player Jamie Jones-Buchanan, along with scientists like Professor Chris Brookes, Professor Ben Jones and Dr Gemma Phillips on rugby league’s brain health group, which tabled the recommendations after data.
All kinds of things, including a new concept for men who find the traditional sport too taxing on their bodies, a mandated off season of four weeks – two without contact and mouthguards containing sensors that monitor head impacts and movements being mandatory both in training and matches in the professional men’s and women’s games, were voted through.
And ex-Leeds star Jones-Buchanan believes rugby league has had to change.
He said: “I looked at the metrics regarding concussion exposure and thought, ‘Wow, my gift was all about volume.’
“I wasn’t about doing what Ryan Hall, Danny McGuire or Kevin Sinfield did, my game was all about making more tackles and getting through more than anyone else.
“It was a badge of honour. We had quality stats on a Monday and even though I’d not scored a hat-trick like Danny did, I could say I made three times more tackles and my quality stats equalled his.
“But I listened to other former players talk at a rookie camp about badges of honour from their days, like playing while injured or having a jab before they played.
“I watched videos showing things like punch ups. Back then, it was virtuous and entertaining and we still lean on that a bit when we sit around telling stories but those badges have died and gone away.
“What we’re faced with is unravelling 10 years’ worth of coaching to players who’ve adopted a technique. We’ll just have to get bending our backs and tackling people properly.
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“If everybody’s on board with this, they’ll accept it and my hope is that if we all buy into it, when players pick up that baton on an international stage, they’ve got that level of safety, mastery and craft that makes the game safe, accessible and marketable.
“It ushers in a new dawn.”
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