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Post by hillbillyred on Oct 27, 2021 7:01:46 GMT
Diagnosed with dementia at 49 years old .
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Post by JJR on Oct 27, 2021 7:13:37 GMT
And with others suing the RFL having had concussion a number of times
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Post by bonitared on Oct 27, 2021 7:18:59 GMT
I feel desperately sorry for those affected.
They’ll need to show that the RFL were aware of the risks during the period of his playing career and did nothing about it. That might be difficult as the RFL don’t have a clue about most things
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Post by JJR on Oct 27, 2021 7:30:46 GMT
Anybody who’s played RL or RU, has probably had concussion in a match and then played the next. Knocks to the head, and indeed proper stiff arms, leading with the elbow etc were part and parcel of playing. Probably over protective these days but it’s an area of concern. Fine balance.
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Post by red54 on Oct 27, 2021 9:03:56 GMT
Had concussion two weeks on the trot funny enough playing against Salford Colts, I was loaned to Widnes one week the next Warrington, I was a winger and never saw the stiff arm either week😉😂😂 that was in 1970. After those episodes I packed it in and played yawnion.
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Post by kreuzbergred on Oct 27, 2021 15:34:26 GMT
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Post by stadge on Oct 27, 2021 22:55:42 GMT
It is sad these players are suffering. However, is it not a case of being wise after the event.
We have come a long way in recent times in terms of head injuries and how they are dealt with. When these players were playing not as much was known about the topic and indeed dementia itself.
How can the sport have been deemed neglectful if it didn’t know.
One thing that strikes me about all the stories though is that they can all remember exactly how many times they were concussed and exactly what happened. ?
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Post by JJR on Oct 28, 2021 6:08:39 GMT
I think dementia is a very complex condition. Long term memory is often good but short term, decision making memory isn’t. I think we need to give these players our support.
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Post by bonitared on Oct 28, 2021 8:32:49 GMT
How can the sport have been deemed neglectful if it didn’t know. This will be the key point and not just whether they knew,but ought to have known from experiences in other sports. My background is insurance and another relevant point is,if they are found to be culpable,how much monetary cover did the RFL have in place at the time of brain damage. However,I agree entirely that those players affected should be fully supported,by us and the sport in general. |
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Post by Carnster on Oct 28, 2021 18:08:02 GMT
My opinion on this may be a bit more controversial...
While I agree that in the modern game these things are a priority and we could probably do more, especially for retired players of the future. While it's a terrible thing for those who have accrued lasting damage from the game in the past, where the controls were lacking, I think legal action against the sport that has gone further than most to mitigate these things in the modern era is wrong. RL is a fierce contact sport, like Boxing, MMA or other contact sports and when players decide to commit themselves to a hard sport where serious injury is always a possibility, they enter into it having judged the acceptable risks that come along with that. Boxers know that brain damage is an inevitability yet they don't sue the Boxing associations. Footballers risk life changing leg injuries yet they don't sue their governing bodies because of what potentially may occur.
I'd be surprised if this actually succeeded because they will have to prove that the RFL were negligible, rather than it be the fact that these things hadn't evolved twenty to thirty years ago plus. The fact that the sport has and still is putting into place player safety precautions every year for quite a long time shows that there is no deliberate action to ignore issues.
Dementia is also a very poorly understood disease with factors such as genetics, lifestyle, diet history, substance abuse history, and injury. Very difficult to pinpoint the exact causes for each individual.
This all feels a little dirty and unclean to me, and it doesn't sit well with me regarding intent and motive.
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Post by john964 on Oct 29, 2021 7:45:36 GMT
My opinion on this may be a bit more controversial... While I agree that in the modern game these things are a priority and we could probably do more, especially for retired players of the future. While it's a terrible thing for those who have accrued lasting damage from the game in the past, where the controls were lacking, I think legal action against the sport that has gone further than most to mitigate these things in the modern era is wrong. RL is a fierce contact sport, like Boxing, MMA or other contact sports and when players decide to commit themselves to a hard sport where serious injury is always a possibility, they enter into it having judged the acceptable risks that come along with that. Boxers know that brain damage is an inevitability yet they don't sue the Boxing associations. Footballers risk life changing leg injuries yet they don't sue their governing bodies because of what potentially may occur. I'd be surprised if this actually succeeded because they will have to prove that the RFL were deliberately negligible, rather than it be the fact that these things hadn't evolved twenty to thirty years ago plus. The fact that the sport has and still is putting into place player safety precautions every year for quite a long time shows that there is no deliberate action to ignore issues. Dementia is also a very poorly understood disease with factors such as genetics, lifestyle, diet history, substance abuse history, and injury. Very difficult to pinpoint the exact causes for each individual. This all feels a little dirty and unclean to me, and it doesn't sit well with me regarding intent and motive. Totally agree, it's a tragedy for those involved, but only people who benefit from legal action are the lawers. It's another symptom of the Compensation Culuture. Will be hard to prove negligence, so likely to drag on just adding up legal fees. Better to concentrate on helping those affected, rather than bankrupt sport with legal fees. If RL go bust, who will pay? Sympathy for those affected, but no respect for this action, following the football case I wonder who egged them on to do this, a lawer? |
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Post by john964 on Oct 29, 2021 8:00:02 GMT
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Post by bonitared on Oct 29, 2021 9:05:55 GMT
Carnster,
I agree with virtually all you say and it will be very difficult to prove. The lawyers could be operating no win/no fee in which case they must be confident.
What I disagree with is that you say they need to be deliberately negligent. That’s not right. They just need to be found negligent which,as I say,I agree will be hellish difficult.
The compensation culture has been derided by quite a few old pros on social media and they’re dead against the legal action
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Post by stadge on Oct 29, 2021 10:37:00 GMT
The thing about this claim and those in football is they are based on what we know now.
In life in general it is not too long ago that what we now know as dementia was just deemed to be Old Age.
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Post by themaskedavenger on Oct 29, 2021 11:19:05 GMT
Carnster, I agree with virtually all you say and it will be very difficult to prove. The lawyers could be operating no win/no fee in which case they must be confident. What I disagree with is that you say they need to be deliberately negligent. That’s not right. They just need to be found negligent which,as I say,I agree will be hellish difficult. The compensation culture has been derided by quite a few old pros on social media and they’re dead against the legal action I pretty much agree with both you and Carnster here BR the less cynical side of me would like to hope that the plaintiffs here neither believe that they have a chance of succeeding or feel that the authorities need to be punished for something which they could not necessarily have reasonably expected to happen. What this case actually seems to be to me is a fairly blunt way of raising the case for some sort of additional support to come from within the game for those that are unfortunate enough to find themselves in this position, and to keep the (thankfully much improved) concern for welfare of current and future players up at the top of the agenda. The method may be dabatable, I'm not sure any of us would really argue with the motive behind it. |
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