League: Concussion tackled head-on

Jeremy Parkinson (left), Northland Rugby Union chief executive, and Alex Smits, Rugby League Northland general manager, have combined to safeguard players in the region against the effects of concussion. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Concussion, the stuff rugby fans and players of yesteryear used as a measure of physical toughness, is under the spotlight in an agreement between two of Northland's heavy-hitters.

The region's rugby league and rugby union bosses shook hands last week on a reciprocal agreement to address the issue of players crossing between the codes after suffering concussion.

"It's player welfare that's the main concern," Northland Rugby Union chief executive Jeremy Parkinson says.

The agreement, a first for New Zealand, is set to discourage the "heroic" tag surrounding concussion victims playing on.

Many league fans will be able to cast their memory back to the 1991 match between Australia and New Zealand in which Kiwi Dean Lonergan spent several minutes on the pitch, at Melbourne's Olympic Park, convulsing after a heavy knock to the head.

He returned to the fray 10 minutes later and went down in folklore as one of the hard men of the sport.

This is something Rugby League Northland general manager Alex Smits and Parkinson want to stub out.

"There is a lot of grey-area in the concussion side of things," Smits says. "It (the agreement) is stopping guys who have played the monkey in one game and thought 'oh, that's fine, I'll just go play the other game'."

The relationship between the two codes in Northland is leading the way forward.

And despite their different procedures surrounding concussion, Smits and Parkinson are adamant the two sporting bodies can collaborate successfully.

"There are some anomalies between their system and ours. We (league) actually need a neurosurgeon certificate within a three-week stand-down period," Smits says.

Parkinson says: "We just want to work with our stakeholders, coaches and players to say that player's health should be right and their head's should be right before coming back to either game.

"It's great to have this relationship with league."