Warriors coach Nathan Brown claims the conditions around the NRL’s new concussion sub rule have rendered it useless, after his Penrith counterpart Ivan Cleary compared it to flood insurance.
Brown has been one of the biggest proponents of the introduction of an 18th man for years, dating back to his first season in charge of Newcastle.
But he cannot see the point in the NRL’s new proposed system, which will only make the extra man available when three players suffer concussions in a game.
Such an instance has happened just twice in the 1420 games since concussion protocols were introduced in 2014, with one being Brown’s own Knights in 2016.
“I don’t see the point in bringing in the rule,” Brown said on Wednesday.
“Three head knocks means it doesn’t matter who you’ve got on your bench he won’t be going out there anyway.
“I would have thought two head knocks would have been fair. I think that’s quite common.”
Brown argued that the proposed rule still wasn’t looking after players’ welfare, saying it would still force players to remain on the field with injuries.
He pointed to Curtis Scott playing with a broken rib for Canberra on the weekend after they suffered two concussions.
Brown’s Warriors lost two players to head knocks in their opening-round win against Gold Coast, with Euan Aitken playing on with syndesmosis damage for 60 minutes.
“What you’re doing is forcing other players to stay on the field injured,” Brown said.
“Canberra on the weekend had two head knocks plus lost a bloke with an injury and they had to leave a player out there with a floating rib.”
The NSW Rugby League last year introduced an 18th man for concussion in reserve grade, available upon the first failed HIA, with the ruled-out player to miss a week.
There is a thought that the three strikes before a replacement can be used would stop any exploitation of the rule, but Canterbury coach Trent Barrett claimed on Wednesday that might not even stop some teams.
The comments came after Cleary said the NRL’s proposal was like flood insurance, rarely used but vital when required.
Cronulla lost three players to concussion inside 37 minutes in Saturday night’s loss to Parramatta, with Sione Katoa’s injured knee leaving them with no interchange options.
It capped off a brutal round of injuries, where seven players failed HIAs across the league and the NRL had to deny the speed of the game was causing issues.
“It’s like flood insurance for one-in-100 year floods,” Cleary, who was evacuated from his house in Sydney’s floods last week, said.
“You’ve got to pay the money to be insured. I think the game had to do something, but it’s probably not going to happen very often.
“But that’s what insurance is for right? You hope it never happens.”
There was a frustration among some clubs on Wednesday that they and doctors were not initially consulted, while others felt it should include all injuries.
The NRL will meet with the players’ union and clubs over the next week to iron out the new rule, before it is set to be introduced for round five.
Questions also surround what will qualify as an emerging player, given the NRL has stated the 18th man must fall into that category.