Care with Slater hailed as a big step forward
Anderson was blown away by revelations his former Storm teammate was in such a bad state but said while such head knocks happened in rugby league, Slater’s condition was all that was needed to silence critics of the tough stance on concussion.
“That’s the last thing you want to hear, for any player,” he said. “It is what it is. That happens playing footy. That’s pretty full on for someone to be affected that much.
“I don’t think Billy will hold any grudges.”
Anderson said it showed exactly why the NRL had to crack down on the foul play that led to concussions.
The former Northern Pride co-captain saw countless players get knocked out, get up and keep going during his time with the Eels, Cowboys and Storm from 2004 to 2009, but said the damning evidence of the impact of concussion, particularly from the NFL, was a continual wake-up call.
James Cook University PhD candidate Paul Inglis, who has been studying concussion in sport for more than three years, said while cognitive recovery was different for each person, it was a huge step forward to see Melbourne taking such a precaution with the NRL star.
“In the case of Billy, they’re doing the right thing,” he said. “We’ve come a long way. “The big thing is about awareness. Ten years ago the attitude would have been: ‘Yep, you’re all right to go play again.’”
Inglis said Slater’s symptoms were typical of concussion but such was the unseen impact of head knocks that even lesser hits could have the same long-term cognitive impacts.
Slater wasn’t the only Far North Queensland fullback to suffer a heavy knock at the weekend.
The Northern Pride’s Matthew Musumeci was concussed in his side’s stirring win over the Wynnum Manly Seagulls.