Interesting article about concussion in rugby

[How bad boy]

I was only thinking the other day about the 2001 Lions Tour and the Scottish Team Doctor (an all round good egg) was bemoaning the fact that he often has to protect players from themselves and coaches. One of the very next games, Wood gets a knock and you can hear one of the coaches saying “get into him, we need him, we need him to stay”. Same game another player has a knock and Robertson just tells them he’s taking him off. Cut to Andy Robinson slamming the desk and looking at other coaches. They’ve made their own rope really

Yeah, it's good that there is now at least a recognition that the utterly stupid shit that used to go on has to stop.
Personally, I got hit so hard once that I started bleeding internally in my eye. Couldn't see out of it for about 5 mins. And yet, I was still pressured to go back on (course I told them to fuck off...)

Had another game where our outhalf got absolutely floored in a tackle halfway through the second half against our biggest rivals. Huge derby game. He shook it off, continued to play and knocked over the winning kick.

He asked me in the showers after the game who won the match.

 

[J.R.R. hartley]

I wonder what effect the goofballs have had in all this?
Can't be good for them long term.

 

[How bad boy]

I wonder what effect the goofballs have had in all this?
Can't be good for them long term.

Steroids themselves both age your brain and impact dopamine development, resulting in depression.

And, of course, the use of steroids increases the impacts in collisions.

 

[nelly sham]

I see Kimmage is playing the “I told you so” regarding the story of Dan Tuohy testing positive for a banned substance. He’s way off the mark.

tl;dr - Tuohy suffered a horrendous arm break and ultimately had to retire from it. It was severely limiting his movement due to nerve damage so he took muscle building steroids to build up muscle again in the arm. This was after he had announced his retirement due to the injury anyway.
There’s lots he can chase down in rugby (presumably he’s given up on Healy) but this one? This ain’t it.

 

[Hank Scorpio]

According to the Belfast Telegraph he hadn't announced his retirement when he failed the drugs test.

IRFU set to begin probe into former Ulster lock Dan Tuohy’s ban for drug misuse

The IRFU are believed to be looking into the details of Dan Tuohy’s two-year ban for taking an illegal substance handed down to the former Ulster and Ireland lock as his career finished up in France.

m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Tuohy was pretty open about how focked his arm was in Feb 20

'You have to treat it like a business. You're a commodity. There's no favours out there'

Former Ireland and Ulster lock Dan Tuohy has been forced to retire from rugby.

www.the42.ie

I think the thrust of Kimmage's article is that he had already failed a drugs test at that point.


Tbh it sounds like he had little chance of playing again. Little point going after a guy who is 37 and trying to ruin his attempts to be involved in coaching.

 

[nelly sham]

Yeah, I assumed that arm injury would have made him lucky to pick up his kids again.

 

[How bad boy]

Doesn't sound right to be going after him. Technically, yes, banned for drugs, but he was fucked:
“To tell you the truth, it would be selfish. If I insisted on playing again, I could re-injure the nerve and I’d be paralysed, I would be handicapped for the rest of my life. She’s the one who would have to pick up the pieces.

“For a large period of time, I couldn’t change my daughter’s nappy because my hand was limp, I was getting shit all over my hand. My wife had to do everything. She had to cook, she had to clean, she had to change my daughter’s nappy, everything you take for granted, she had to do for me. It’s not fair for her. For what? An extra 10 or 20 games?

“I’m not earning hundreds of thousands a year. It was an easy decision really.”



Read this older article recently about how Gerbrandt Grobler got busted, he was using steroids to recover faster from injury. It's an interesting read.

'I lost everything': Gerbrandt Grobler opens up on two year drug ban

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Gerbrandt Grobler opens up on what drove him to cheat, the despair of a two-year drug ban... and redemption.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Donald Trump]

Is there any precautions that can be taken against these head injuries lads?

I only watch Ireland and maybe the end stages of the world Cup. Thing is when, when I was growing up, they were big men. Now, every fucking last one of them is massive.

I can't see how the game itself such as it is can protect the head from these clashes when these giants collide. I'd also imagine a lot of these guys will have issues with mobility much earlier than most of us will.

 

[Hank Scorpio]

Is there any precautions that can be taken against these head injuries lads?

I only watch Ireland and maybe the end stages of the world Cup. Thing is when, when I was growing up, they were big men. Now, every fucking last one of them is massive.

I can't see how the game itself such as it is can protect the head from these clashes when these giants collide. I'd also imagine a lot of these guys will have issues with mobility much earlier than most of us will.

They've done detailed studies on the causes of HI , tackling lower reduces the instances but doesn't eliminate it.

Tbh I think in light of the ongoing cases against RFU etc you are going to see major rule changes.

A huge tackle (fnaar) can certainly buoy up a crowd but if this is at the cost of player wellbeing then you're likely to see a vastly different game. They can't afford to do otherwise

 

[junior footballer]

The quickest and easiest way is to immediately lower the tackle from the waist down, world rugby won’t do it as at the end of the day a lot of new rugby fans enjoy the bumpers type collisions where all the damage is being done.
Front up tackles are literally killing players in the long term, even collisions to the chest are doing damage