FINGERS CROSSED FOR KO’D BROWN
Stand-off injury spotted on social media but he could be fit for Tonga
ENGLAND are hopeful stand-off Kevin Brown will be cleared to play in Saturday’s semi-final with Tonga after a bizarre concussion incident that only became apparent to officials on social media.
Brown took two heavy blows to the head from the Papua New Guinea defence 25 minutes into the first half, but played on after convincing medical staff he was fit to continue.
The World Cup’s touchline replay system was not working at the time to view the incident again, and Brown showed no signs of concussion to either the England or tournament doctor on the field.
But Wayne Bennett revealed a non-playing member of the squad, whom the coach refused to identify, later showed the team doctor a clip on social media. It revealed one piece of evidence of a category one concussion – the lowest grading – which was not taking protective action when falling to the ground.
Once the doctor had seen the video he made the decision to withdraw Brown at half-time, despite the stand-off ’s insistence he could play on.
The 33-year-old, who has a history of concussion, will now go through the official tournament protocol this week, with Bennett maintaining he could face Tonga.
Coach Bennett (right) said: “I don’t think he’ll be doubtful. It will be up to the league – he’s got to go through a whole load of procedures now, concussion tests and, if he passes them, he’ll be fine.
“He was totally coherent in the changing room and totally adamant he was going back on. His head was clear, he knew where he was and what was going on. “But, once the doctor said it was category one and he didn’t want him to go back on the field, I told Kevin he wasn’t going back.” When England held on to the ball for long enough, there was a major positive for Bennett in the blossoming right-side partnership between Kallum Watkins and Jermaine McGillvary.
Both finished with doubles, with each supplying the final pass for their respective tries, and man of the match Watkins produced some sublime moments with ball in hand.
Other England tries were scored by impressive substitutes Alex Walmsley and Ben Currie plus leftwinger Ryan Hall, with Castleford-bound Garry Lo providing the Kumuls’ only response.
But the handling errors that have blighted their World Cup campaign were again evident for much of the game – an area that will need significant improvement ahead of their Auckland showdown with Tonga.
Scrum-half Luke Gale said: “We know what they are capable of. We expect a tough physical battle but we will recover from this one and move on.”