HEAD CLASH
Titans at odds with NRL over club doctor’s concussion call
GOLD Coast are privately seething that the judgment of their medical staff has come into question as the NRL club prepares to contest concussion-related breach notices.
The Titans are putting together a response to the NRL after being fined $150,000 for their handling of incidents involving Kane Elgey, Ryan Simpkins and Joe Greenwood during their Round 3 win over Parramatta.
Simpkins’ case is particularly contentious.
The utility forward staggered away from contact shortly after half-time and was taken from the field for a head injury assessment (HIA). Under NRL rules, a player showing possible concussion symptoms must undergo a HIA and cannot return to the field if they have lost consciousness or fallen to the ground without taking protective action.
Simpkins passed the relevant tests completed by the Titans club doctor and subsequently returned to the playing field.
Simpkins’ mention in the breach notice relates to concerns he should not have been allowed to take any further part in the game – effectively pitting the NRL in opposition to the Titans’ qualified medical professionals.
It is likely to be argued that the other two players’ injuries were not concussion-related.
Titans chief executive Graham Annesley declined to talk about the matter but coach Neil Henry offered comment while at a media conference for his weekly team announcement.
Henry stood by his staff, saying he had full confidence in their ability to ensure players were not put at risk.
“We have highly qualified people in orange shirts making decisions,” he said.
“You have got an independent review committee (NRL) that have made other decisions. They’re not there (at the game), they’re not privy to what is going on on the field.
So we’re trying to make things black and white out of areas that can be quite grey,” Henry said.
“So we will state our case as to the reasons why those players weren’t removed from the field and the reasons why one player went back on the field and we’ll wait and see.
“We’ll either be fined or you will find that we won’t be.”
Elgey went down late in the first half after getting into an awkward position while tackling Parramatta centre Brad Takairangi.
The five-eighth lay still on the ground for a moment as, it is understood, he feared he had broken his jaw.
The Titans trainer was not on the field at the time because Konrad Hurrell had come off for a HIA following a heavy collision with Parramatta’s Nathan Brown.
Elgey was up and lucid by the time the trainer arrived on scene.
It will also be claimed that second-rower Greenwood was poked in the eye and not concussed, which is why the Englishman refused to leave the field as per the trainer’s instruction.
“He ran off in the wrong direction, that was it and he wanted to get back in the defensive line,” Henry said.
The Titans have until close of business on Monday to file their response to the NRL.