More compelling reasons why players’ health must come first – and winning second

I was roundly criticized by his coach, among others, for offering similar warnings to his former teammate Boyd Cordner when he also suffered a series of concussions in a short space of time. My public point to Boyd, based on expert medical advice, was that so many concussions in so little time, many from seemingly relatively innocuous collisions, was nature’s way of saying GET BACK.

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Fortunately, he did exactly that after a few games back. Jake Friend, another one of your teammates, also took that commendable path after too many concussions in too little time.

Meanwhile, I took a similar stick from the mighty James Graham for my own critique of his own approach to concussions, both personally and generically, shortly before he too retired, and has since become something of an advocate for proper care of concussions.

To you, I say the most obvious, Luke. Five concussions in 14 months? Headaches for weeks? And return to the world’s toughest football cauldron?

And yes, I know that series of five was a while ago. But in the words of concussion expert Dr. Adrian Cohen of Headsafe, “Time is little protection. Concussion creates a concussion. The more you have, the more you get, the more easily you get them, the longer the effects last, the more time to recover from each episode, and the more likely and serious the ultimate consequences.”

Lucas, it is Craziness. Pull the pin, Digger. Leave.

As for coach Trent Robinson, I was surprised by his comments on Thursday about Keary. Do you have a player with five concussions in 14 months, suffer from long-term headaches, and not even have, by your own admission, a DISCUSSION with the player about possible early retirement? Even after two of his former players retired for precisely that reason, in the last two years? If you were in the piano-moving business and two of your employees had back pain so severe that they reluctantly had to retire despite doing everything they could to avoid it, and a third developed back problems: surely Would you have some kind of talk going over his options?

It is important for you, the NRL and all football codes to get this right. But not as important as it is for the players themselves.

percy sleigh

A reader contributes this from Roy and HG’s Bludging On The Blindside, sent in by one of their listeners, James, last week: “Watching the Blues capitulate on Wednesday night, I was reminded of my thomas the tank engine story. It’s the story of Percy and Harold. Brave steam engine Percy beats boastful Harold chopper in a race.

“While I’m usually a fan of gritty underdog tales, I’ve always felt uncomfortable reading this book to my kids, mainly because, based on the principles of physics and basic engineering, there’s simply no way a steam engine of turn of the century traveling on contoured tracks can beat a helicopter flying in a straight line. Simply incredible.

“But then a fully fit NSW lost a half-time lead to lose by 10 points to a Queensland team missing Munster and others due to COVID, and with two players having concussions in the first five minutes, and suddenly I’m thinking, ‘Percy’s victory isn’t so far-fetched after all.’”

Foster’s golden goal

TFF did a couple of interviews for last Sunday on the topic of whether or not religions should receive tax exemptions and whether or not in the third decade of the 21st century in a multicultural society of ever-growing atheism and agnosticism it was ridiculous for the Federal Parliament . begin each day with the recitation of the Our Father of Christians.

He prompted Socceroo legend Craig Foster to tweet TFF with his own suggestion for a better start to the day for our MPs. Instead of a plea for help from a supernatural being that many do not believe in, why not a public commitment to do everything possible to work for each other, for us, the people and the country: “We commit to represent the people of this beautiful continent, the cradle of the oldest living culture with equality, honesty and integrity, to protect future generations and fulfill our duty in the service of humanity and the planet that sustains us”.

I’m lovin ‘it.

peace be damned

Yes, yes, yes, I know: there is a growing opinion that it is inevitable that the PGA will make peace with Saudi golf’s heinous Blood-Money Championship. But why would they?

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As discussed, this is not cricket world series reunification with the Establishment.

It’s also not like the Super League and the ARL coming together again as a united competition in the NRL.

In both cases, he was compensated with assets that the other coveted.

What do the Norman Nomads have, beyond money, that the PGA already has in abundance?

A television audience? Please.

A sense of history that extends before the end of May 2022? Not a bit of that.

A great and exciting format then? Tell Andrew Johns, in his inimitable way: “We don’t want to hear all your nonsense. It drives you crazy. LIV’s team format is a pointless joke and, as Tiger Woods has pointed out, the whole thing feels like an exhibition, where there’s no real incentive to produce genius for victory because everyone is already drowning in money.

And yes, that’s the only thing LIV has: billions of dollars.

But how long can that last?

Are the Saudis getting their investment money back right now? Certainly not in ticket sales or broadcast revenue.

How about a comeback in the sporty wash then, enhancing your image?

Again, clearly not. As a direct result of taking part in this high-profile enterprise and putting it in the hands of the most unlikable man in golf, more attention than ever has been focused on the appalling human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia.

So ultimately why would the PGA sue for peace?

They just need to wait for the brutes to come out.

what they say

British Open Champion Cam Smith Holding Ye Olde Claret Jug: “This is for Oz, thanks guys.”

Cam Smith’s father desabout his son learning his skills at the rustic local Wantima golf course. “We always joke that he had such a good short game because the golf course all those years ago wasn’t in the shape it is today, so he had a lot of tough lies that he had to overcome. If you could get out of the shit here, you could get out of anything.”

Des Smith on his son’s mullet: “I think it started at the start of COVID when he saw some of the rugby league guys doing it, so he grew one too, now he’s stuck. I don’t care at all, he doesn’t bother me as much as his mother does.”

tiger forest on his possible final appearance at St Andrews: “That’s when I started realizing, ‘Hey, next time I come over here, I might not be around.’ I had some tears; It’s very emotional for me.”

british wrestler Sonny Liston Ali in her name: “It’s fate. With my name, I had no choice but to box. My grandfather wanted to call me Sonny, my mother is a big fan of boxing and she gave me the name Liston and my father, who is a quarter Bengali, gave the It just so happened that he had the last name Ali.”

Kim Hughes on the treatment of alcohol addiction: “I was just going through the motions. Corporate talk has dried up and things can get very, very lonely. What I was really struggling with was that I was distancing myself, or my children were distancing themselves from me, or I was distancing myself from them, because I didn’t want to be around them smelling like alcohol.”

Welsh Grand Slam winning captain ryan jones41, after being diagnosed with early-onset dementia: “I feel like my world is falling apart. And I’m really scared. Because I have three children and three stepchildren and I want to be a fantastic father. I lived 15 years of my life as a superhero and I’m not. I don’t know what the future holds. I am a product of an environment that is all about process and human performance. I am not able to act as I could. And I just want to lead a happy, healthy, normal life. I feel like it’s been taken away from me and there’s nothing I can do.” The catastrophic tide rises.

english rugby captain Courtney Laws: “We saw a lot of things in the press from their players and what they were saying: some people taking aim at Gengey [teammate Ellis Genge] and some people calling us Poms and all that.” Interesting. I prefer “Poms” as a term of rude affection, but perhaps times have passed me by on this one?

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greg norman: “Maybe my legacy had always been intended to be this. My legacy on the golf course was: I love to play golf, I could put bums in seats, I could hit a white golf ball from point A to point B better than most. And he was proud to do it. Perhaps the missed opportunity in the game of golf has moved elsewhere because of my vision, my belief, my commitment.” Either that, or are you a narcissistic asshole, who doesn’t care about the game he played on you?

co-owner of the Sydney Kings paul smithabout the Kings playing on Christmas day: “It’s the last frontier of sports programming in Australia. We are a changing society. Christmas is not a holy event for all of us, and it can be a lonely day for many people.”

athletics commentator Geoff Wightman after his son Jake won the 1500m at the World Championships in Athletics: “That’s my son. I train him. And he’s the world champion.”

Swimming Australia tells us why Isaac Cooper was sent home from a Commonwealth Games training camp in France: “Cooper was sent home from Dolphins training camp following some wellness issues, including medication use.” Isaac? Bring it tight. Order your “wellness”. Good luck. You will get through this and kill them in Paris 2024.

team of the week

Cam Smith. He won the British Open at St Andrews in excellent fashion, setting a course record for that event that surpassed Tiger Woods’ previous one by one stroke.

Chili. the condors qualified for their first Rugby World Cup with a victory over the USA.

“Piddler on the Roof”. During the Wallabies v England test match, a drunken asshole climbed onto the roof of one of the stands and urinated on the crowd below. Speechless.

Eleanor Patterson. The 26-year-old Australian, lost to athletics for three years after a fight with her coach, returned to win the women’s high jump at the World Championships in Athletics.

Penrith Panthers. Having the first place almost assured. Up by four games with just seven to go before the final.