Lawyers, who are working with more than 75 former rugby league players to bring legal action against Rugby Football League – as well as 175 former rugby union players in a similar lawsuit – believe there may be more than 400 players from both codes Died early from neurological complications, deficiencies in playing the game and have repeatedly reiterated the need for the league to make “substantial, immediate changes” to prevent more players from suffering the same thing.
A group that includes former Great Britain international Bobbie Goulding has filed a lawsuit against rugby league’s governing body because they say they were not adequately protected from the risks of brain damage from concussions and sub-concussions.
Rylands Legal’s Richard Boardman, who is leading the lawsuits relating to both codes, described the problem as an epidemic and said every week more players are trying to join the lawsuit against the RFL, which is still in the preparatory stages and some are progressing far from reaching a conclusion, the observer understands.
“We’ve added a few more this week alone,” he said. “It comes in dribbling and murky because some guys feel connected to the sport and that it’s an attack on the game. However, we strongly believe that this is not an attack and we are simply trying to help players who are struggling with brain damage in retirement.
“What is certain is that hundreds, if not thousands, of current and former rugby players across the UK and rugby world are unwell. It is an absolute epidemic.”
Boardman said there is a certainty that people die early because of the conditions and problems they developed playing rugby. “We believe that more than 400 rugby players, in both varieties, elite and amateur, have died prematurely over the past decade from brain damage and playing the sport.”
There have been growing calls for Rugby League to introduce mandatory social distancing in training to minimize the risk of current and future players developing the same problems as Francis Maloney, who announced this week he was suffering from early-onset dementia and is likely chronically traumatic encephalopathy had been diagnosed. Boardman believes this is an absolute must. “This is an urgent, immediate issue and as such, significant changes must be made now,” he said. “Since September, when we first contacted the RFL, they have already made numerous changes to make the game safer for current players, including extending the return to play from a six-day concussion to the relatively safer 11.
“In both rugby codes, training is largely unregulated and when you have a coach who gets his players on two to four days of full-contact training, plus a game beyond that every week over a nine-month season, your average player goes along with it Hundreds of thousands of concussions or minor concussions to retire. I don’t think the sport can go on like this, either in the medium or long term.”
The RFL has previously said in response to reports of the case: “Rugby league is a contact sport and while every sport involves some degree of risk, the welfare of the players is always of paramount importance. As a result of science, the sport of rugby league is improving and evolving its approach to concussion, head injury assessment, education, management and prevention throughout the game.”
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