KNOCKED ON THE HEAD
Titans insist concussion won’t force youngster to retire
THE Gold Coast Titans remain confident Keegan Hipgrave will not be forced into retirement despite the forward being left in concussion limbo for almost nine months.
The 23-year-old is still awaiting a medical clearance to allow him to return to play after suffering a series of head injuries last season.
Hipgrave endured three concussions in the opening months of the 2019 season and has been sidelined since his last NRL appearance, against the Broncos on June 9.
He has undergone numerous neurological tests, with the NRL and independent doctors heavily involved in assessing his health.
Hipgrave completed the bulk of the Gold Coast’s pre-season fitness training but was not allowed to participate in contact drills.
He returned to minimal contact training recently, but is still not allowed to play and has missed the Gold Coast’s pre-season trial campaign.
The NRL has ramped up its policies and procedures around brain-related injuries as the effect of concussion on long-term health becomes clearer.
Hipgrave is still in the infancy of his NRL career, having made 27 appearances in the top grade since making his debut for the Titans in 2017 and earning a reputation for playing without fear.
He is unlikely to play in Round 1 against Canberra at GIO Stadium on Friday week and faces an anxious wait to find out if he will be cleared to return to the field.
Hipgrave received some positive news recently and Titans chief executive Steve Mitchell said the club expected him to receive a clearance.
“We’ve undertaken a thorough process with Keegan, with his health and wellbeing always being a priority,” he said.
“There has been a large volume of work done with input from people both internally and externally.
“The NRL have been involved every step of the way and Keegan himself has been very diligent with his approach towards getting back on the field.
“Essentially he has ticked every box up until this point but he still has a few more steps to go through. He has progressed to a phase of starting contact and that’s exactly what he is doing.’’
The NRL has made major changes to head injury policies in recent years and invested in brain research to tackle one of the biggest threats to the sport’s future.
The code has been rocked by revelations over the past six months that ex-players Steve Folkes and Peter Moscatt were posthumously diagnosed with the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).