Rise in head injury claims

The death of 17-year-old Otamatea rugby player Jordan Kemp sparked a nationwide conversation about the seriousness of sport concussions and head injuries.

Almost 300 sports-related concussion or brain injuries were reported in Northland from 2011 to 2013, costing ACC more than $200,000.

In July, 17-year-old Otamatea rugby player Jordan Kemp died from head injuries suffered during a club match. This sparked a nationwide conversation about the seriousness of sport concussions and head injuries, and need to improve player safety.

Northland Rugby Union chief executive Jeremy Parkinson said the number of claims was still minimal compared to the number of players. For instance, 21,000 Northlanders play rugby union.

However, it was a very important issue and the union took it very seriously, he said.

According to ACC, the number of claims was highest last year at 114, which cost $78,514. Eighty-nine rugby union or league concussion claims were lodged in Northland last year compared to 61 in 2011 and 65 in 2012.

Nationally, there were more than 3000 sports-related concussion or brain injury claims a year from 2011 to 2013. In 2011 these claims cost $1,900,105. In 2012 they passed the $2 million mark to $2,148,705, and last year they dropped slightly to $2,093,815.

Rugby union or league concussion claims totalled 1787 in 2011, 2028 in 2012 and 2155 in 2013.

The union introduced a "blue card" system at the beginning of this season that allowed players to stand down after being concussed.

The system was a world-first and allowed referees to take players with suspected concussions off the field. Players were then checked by a doctor before returning to play, Mr Parkinson said.

"We want to say to mums around Northland that we're doing everything we can to ensure concussion is identified and managed properly," he said.

"It's compulsory for players to wear mouthguards and coaches have to do a credible ACC course. If they don't, we remove them from coaching that team until they've done the course."

ACC spokeswoman Stephanie Melville said the increase in concussion-related injury claims could be attributed to the better reporting of injuries from improved awareness of sport-related concussion symptoms and the seriousness of head trauma.

"The culture whereby a player, being the hard stoic bloke that he was, would shrug off a hard knock to the head and dive into the next tackle is changing, and quite literally from the paddock up," she said.

"The focus of coaches and players is now primarily on preventing injury or, in cases where a player is injured, getting the prompt medical assessment and treatment, and ensuring the right rehabilitation programme is in place if needed."

The number of moderate to serious injury claims had reduced by 15 per cent since ACC introduced injury prevention initiative RugbySmart in 2001, Ms Melville said.

The programme provided coaches essential information about minimising injuries to players, and tested their knowledge of injury prevention, she said. The NZRU has made it compulsory for all coaches and referees to attend annual RugbySmart workshops.