Head test : Mon Apr 24, 2017 4:12 pm  

Can someone tell exactly what the head test is that players take when they go off with suspected concussion?

Re: Head test : Mon Apr 24, 2017 4:24 pm  

mosher wrote: Can someone tell exactly what the head test is that players take when they go off with suspected concussion? Called a SCAT3 test (I think). Basically, before the start of season every player completes one. These are then used as baseline scores for the season. If a player shows some signs of concussion during a game, they will be taken off the field to complete one. I think they have to get within a certain percentage of their baseline, otherwise they are deemed to have failed. The following article is very interesting and breaks down the protocol for the assessments in Australia from the perspective of a player under going a head injury assessment. http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-1 ... ue/8441808 Fantastic how far this element of the game has developed. The welfare of players has to come first (whether they like it or not!)

mosher wrote: Can someone tell exactly what the head test is that players take when they go off with suspected concussion? Called a SCAT3 test (I think). Basically, before the start of season every player completes one. These are then used as baseline scores for the season. If a player shows some signs of concussion during a game, they will be taken off the field to complete one. I think they have to get within a certain percentage of their baseline, otherwise they are deemed to have failed. The following article is very interesting and breaks down the protocol for the assessments in Australia from the perspective of a player under going a head injury assessment. http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-1 ... ue/8441808 Fantastic how far this element of the game has developed. The welfare of players has to come first (whether they like it or not!)

Re: Head test : Mon Apr 24, 2017 5:57 pm  

I remember reading (in an interview with a player from a couple seasons ago, can't remember who) that some players try to 'cheat' the head test by setting a purposefully low score in the pre-season test.

Re: Head test : Mon Apr 24, 2017 6:01 pm  

Panda92 wrote: I remember reading (in an interview with a player from a couple seasons ago, can't remember who) that some players try to 'cheat' the head test by setting a purposefully low score in the pre-season test. Can't find one on rugby, but a view from the NFL... https://theconcussionblog.com/tag/cheating-the-system/

Panda92 wrote: I remember reading (in an interview with a player from a couple seasons ago, can't remember who) that some players try to 'cheat' the head test by setting a purposefully low score in the pre-season test. Can't find one on rugby, but a view from the NFL... https://theconcussionblog.com/tag/cheating-the-system/

Re: Head test : Mon Apr 24, 2017 6:43 pm  

Panda92 wrote:

I remember reading (in an interview with a player from a couple seasons ago, can't remember who) that some players try to 'cheat' the head test by setting a purposefully low score in the pre-season test.

Totally doesn't surprise me at all.
I remember a couple of months ago when Ellis was out for a few games (after he went off against Catalans) there was a quote from Radders in the Mail (RE why it was taking a few weeks for Ellis to return) saying it was his own fault for setting such a high standard in the pre season test.

Re: Head test : Mon Apr 24, 2017 7:05 pm  

Panda92 wrote:

I remember reading (in an interview with a player from a couple seasons ago, can't remember who) that some players try to 'cheat' the head test by setting a purposefully low score in the pre-season test.

Well, their idiots then. Concussion can be very serious.

Re: Head test : Mon Apr 24, 2017 9:30 pm  

Panda92 wrote:

I remember reading (in an interview with a player from a couple seasons ago, can't remember who) that some players try to 'cheat' the head test by setting a purposefully low score in the pre-season test.

I know Radders quipped when Ellis had failed one and missed a game, as they are also tested up until their next game due to concussion often hanging around, that he shouldn't be so competitive having the best baseline test score in the team.

Re: Head test : Mon Apr 24, 2017 11:03 pm  

Listening to luke Robinson's interview with Dave woods https://www.sportsnewsempire.com/rugby/ ... by-league/ about concussion really brings it to you how often a modern professional can be concussed (which is a TBI) during a career. He reckoned he'd probably being 'knocked out' around 30 times and was recounting one game where he didn't even realise that his son had being born nor that the game had even ended. Not that it's 100% but there's a very good chance he and other players that have suffered many TBIs will suffer for it later on in life if they are not suffering already. This is a tragic story about a 14 year old boy who in 2011 was sent back on to the field of play, not just once after suffering a head bang, not twice, but three frickin times and no-one did anything apart from the mother wanting her son to be taken off, the dad/referee/coach did nothing.The decisions of the adults that day cost him his life. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/ ... ugby-union As someone who has cycled seriously since the late 80s I'm only too aware of how head injuries make the headlines, however I refuse to wear a helmet, firstly, it can't prevent a TBI nor death, second, a helmet makes you more likely to suffer a TBI/head strike in the first place. You only need to see how gridiron changed dramatically since the introduction of the hard shell helmet and even before that the naismith helmet (which was originally to protect his ears). The sport changed so that it departed even further from rugby in terms of physical violence and to prevent injury stronger and stronger helmets were produced only for that not to work simply because the brain is still being knocked about inside the skull and TBI occur even more frequently as participants take more risks and as players get bigger and stronger the forces involve go way way past any protection levels they can offer on impact. still they cannot stop the brain from sloshing about inside the skull which is why most helmets simply fail/split/crack in cycling as they are so weak they absorb barely any of the forces involved. people then incorrectly assume a helmet saved their life (it can't, it's not physically possible) and the circular issue continues. it's repeated in boxing, massive increases in concussionss in amateur boxing whence headgear was introduced (& why the ABA subsequently did a turnaround in part) my point is it's not about changing the sport in itself to protect players by means of a 'safety' aid, it's about changing the actions as much as is possible of those that cause the concussions in the first place to avoid such and of course the recent protocols that have come in place which frankly took far far too long to come about.

Listening to luke Robinson's interview with Dave woods https://www.sportsnewsempire.com/rugby/ ... by-league/ about concussion really brings it to you how often a modern professional can be concussed (which is a TBI) during a career. He reckoned he'd probably being 'knocked out' around 30 times and was recounting one game where he didn't even realise that his son had being born nor that the game had even ended. Not that it's 100% but there's a very good chance he and other players that have suffered many TBIs will suffer for it later on in life if they are not suffering already. This is a tragic story about a 14 year old boy who in 2011 was sent back on to the field of play, not just once after suffering a head bang, not twice, but three frickin times and no-one did anything apart from the mother wanting her son to be taken off, the dad/referee/coach did nothing.The decisions of the adults that day cost him his life. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/ ... ugby-union As someone who has cycled seriously since the late 80s I'm only too aware of how head injuries make the headlines, however I refuse to wear a helmet, firstly, it can't prevent a TBI nor death, second, a helmet makes you more likely to suffer a TBI/head strike in the first place. You only need to see how gridiron changed dramatically since the introduction of the hard shell helmet and even before that the naismith helmet (which was originally to protect his ears). The sport changed so that it departed even further from rugby in terms of physical violence and to prevent injury stronger and stronger helmets were produced only for that not to work simply because the brain is still being knocked about inside the skull and TBI occur even more frequently as participants take more risks and as players get bigger and stronger the forces involve go way way past any protection levels they can offer on impact. still they cannot stop the brain from sloshing about inside the skull which is why most helmets simply fail/split/crack in cycling as they are so weak they absorb barely any of the forces involved. people then incorrectly assume a helmet saved their life (it can't, it's not physically possible) and the circular issue continues. it's repeated in boxing, massive increases in concussionss in amateur boxing whence headgear was introduced (& why the ABA subsequently did a turnaround in part) my point is it's not about changing the sport in itself to protect players by means of a 'safety' aid, it's about changing the actions as much as is possible of those that cause the concussions in the first place to avoid such and of course the recent protocols that have come in place which frankly took far far too long to come about.

Re: Head test : Tue Apr 25, 2017 9:10 am  

Thanks all very interesting. I was knocked out 3 times when playing Rugby Union in Leeds, twice in one game. It does make me wonder about the long term effects.

Re: Head test : Tue Apr 25, 2017 10:26 am  

I remember when these tests first came into the game, Shane Richardson told my dad that Yeamo and Graeme Horne failed the testing of the targets they had to hit!