Bobbie Goulding reveals battle against dementia

[Caboosegg]

But surely point 2 says they didn't know the risks as outlined in point 1 as the research mentioned in point 2 had not been done. I don't think you can use the players ignorance of the danger as a defence.

Point 2 is different. From what I have read over things like asbestosis cases, an employer was entitled to rely on recognised and established practice at the time. Foreseeability of injury should not be judged with the benefit of hindsight but that doesn't get them off the hook if developing knowledge starts to suggest danger and the employer was ignoring that developing knowledge and just carried on allowing dangerous practices.

So it probably all hinges on if there is evidence, say half way through his career, that the kinds of head injuries he was getting would lead to issues and the sport/clubs ignored it.

Even without update research you know that playing Rugby can have long term life changing injuries.

Should Masoe sue for breaking his back?

They need to prove that it's the rugby that caused it, that the RFL new of a link and didn't do anything to mitigate it or inform the players of risks and that other factors haven't caused it such as Drugs.

As I said I do feel for them but it screams of the American sue for anything you can culture.

It’s about whether or not the RFL knew that there was a danger from head injuries leading to issues like dementia, when they knew about it and if having known about it, didn’t do anything about it.

It is absolutely no defence to say, yes we knew it could cause dementia but that goes with the territory so we decided to ignore it.

As to other injuries back in 2003 the Welsh RU lost a case where a player, Richard Vowles, was paralysed due to a scrum collapsing. The argument in defence of the referee and the WRU was Volwes voluntarily entered the scrum after the ref gave them he option to go to uncontested scrums due to lack of an experienced front row player. They key point was while Volwes was given the choice and it was argued he knew the risks, it was still a failure of the ref to decide it was too dangerous despite the laws of the game saying the players should be given the option.

So basically a player can choose to play a sport where serious injury may results like RL but the RFL can still be liable if they don’t protect the players.

I fully agree with you if it is a case of with the data available the rfl new it was an issue and did nothing.

I just think this a using current research to try and get a last payday.

[josie andrews]

Don’t want to put yourself at risk, don’t play the game” – fans and rugby league players go into meltdown over concussion lawsuit

The world of rugby league was rocked this morning when it was revealed that a number of former stars – including legend Bobbie Goulding – were heading a lawsuit case against the Rugby Football League.

They will claim that the RFL failed in its duty of care to protect them from the risks associated with concussions and sub-concussions.

Their lawyer, Richard Boardman of Rylands Legal, said he is representing 50 former professional rugby league players aged from 20 to 50 all of whom are showing symptoms of potential neurological complications.

Boardman has since spoken out about why he is going ahead with such a move alongside the players.

The vast majority of the former players we represent love the game and don’t want to see it harmed in any way,” Boardman said.

“They just want to make it safer so current and future generations don’t end up like them. Younger players such as Stevie Ward, Rob Burrow and Sam Burgess have spoken publicly about their own brain damage, so these issues aren’t restricted to older generations.

This is why we’re asking the RFL to make a number of immediate, relatively low-cost changes to save the sport, such as limiting contact in training and extending the return to play (after concussion).”

But, this move has rankled a number of current and past rugby league players who have said that they knew the danger of the sport when they first signed up to play in their teens.

Former Huddersfield Giants star Chris Thorman was one such player.

Chris Thorman
@Chris_Thorman6
I wouldn’t wish ill health on anyone & I can only speak for myself, but I absolutely understood the risks I was taking when playing the sport that has given me a wage since I was 16 years old.


@SkySportsNews
A group of former players are planning to sue the Rugby Football League regarding the risks of concussion during their careers.


Ex-Halifax and Castleford Tigers halfback Ben Johnston also got in on the act.

Absolute ends https://t.co/NbMBQnRFKs

— Ben Johnston (@Ben_Johnston92) October 27, 2021

https://www.seriousaboutrl.com/dont-wan ... uit-44756/

[southportcdm]

Feel sorry for those players that are suffering but I can't accept that they didn't realise they were playing a sport that could damage their health. If they can prove that they were told to play on, against their better judgement, following head knocks then the clubs and the RFL will be in trouble. I always had the impression that many players saw it as a badge of honour to play on when they'd had a head knock and they had to be protected from themselves. This won't help the ex-players win their case. I'm sure the clubs and RFL will argue that they didn't have conclusive medical evidence that head knocks cause health issues in later life until recently and that now they're doing something about it (as of course they should).

[jaws1]

Dementia can hit anyone whether they play sport or not.

[josie andrews]

RFL not to blame for brain damage in players, says Leeds Rhinos chief executive Gary Hetherington

LEEDS Rhinos chief executive Gary Hetherington will never “bag” any former rugby league player bringing a legal case against the Rugby Football League over brain damage - but does not believe the governing body can be held responsible.

Ex-Leeds, St Helens and Great Britain scrum-half Bobbie Goulding, 49, is one of 10 former players planning a case for negligence against the RFL after he was diagnosed recently with early-onset dementia.

He is joined by ex-Bramley, Dewsbury and Scotland prop Ryan MacDonald, former Warrington winger Jason Roach - who briefly played for Castleford Tigers at the start of Super League - and ex-Wales international Mike Edwards as part of a test group action over the RFL’s alleged failure to protect them from the risks caused by concussions and sub-concussions.

Richard Boardman, of Rylands Legal, says he is representing 50 former players aged from their 20s to 50s, all of whom are showing symptoms associated with neurological complications.

This is alongside the 175 former rugby union players Boardman represents in a separate lawsuit, including England World Cup winner Steve Thompson.

Clearly, these are potential landmark cases with possible significant repercussions for both sports. But Hetherington insisted: “We live in a litigious society, so nothing surprises you.

We’re learning all the time. I’m not going to bag anybody for bringing the case.

“But equally I would say that governing bodies weren’t aware of this issue. It’s not as if they were negligent; it’s not as if they knew about it and refused to deal with it. I think, once it became apparent, they have dealt with it, are dealing with it and there is on-going research.

It’s not a light switch. From what I can see, governing bodies are being very proactive and doing the right thing for the next generation and the current generation of players.

“There’s nothing they can do about what happened 10 or 15 years ago.”

Hetherington conceded concussion is probably the “major challenge” for sport throughout the world. Closer to home, Leeds captain Stevie Ward had to unfortunately retire in January at the age of just 27 owing to the effects of repeated concussions.

It’s a big topic; it’s been big in the United States and it’s big over here,” added Hetherington.

It’s got potential to affect all sports, certainly soccer, both codes of rugby and any physical contact sport.

“[But] I think it’s fair to say that the governing bodies of all sports are very proactive about it.


“It’s a modern-society issue and nobody ever thought about it 10 or 15 years ago.

“Society is changing significantly. Habits that we have are different. It’s all part of societal change.

“I played in the era where ‘thuggery’ was a badge. The game has changed significantly and changed for the better.”

Hetherington is 67 and knows of team-mates and peers “who’ve had dementia, and who have died with dementia” but he does not see it as something which will see players discouraged from playing in the future.

“There is a certain section of society that is attracted to the contest that it [rugby league] brings,” added Hetherington, who tomorrow marks 25 years since arriving at Headingley to take over the Leeds club with Paul Caddick.

“It’s not going to get eradicated, because it’s like boxing; it will always be attractive even though there are dangers.

“Inevitably there will be changes that society brings to sport in general, but I still think there will always be an appetite for rugby, boxing, American Football…”

Boardman said: “The vast majority of former players we represent love the game and don’t want to see it harmed in any way. They just want to make it safer so current and future generations don’t end up like them.

“Younger players such as Stevie Ward, Rob Burrow and Sam Burgess have spoken publicly about their own brain damage, so these issues aren’t restricted to older generations.

“This is why we’re asking the RFL to make a number of immediate, relatively low-cost changes to save the sport, such as limiting contact in training and extending the return to play [following a concussion].”

In response, an RFL statement read: “The RFL takes player safety and welfare extremely seriously, and has been saddened to hear about some of the former players’ difficulties. Rugby League is a contact sport and while there is an element of risk to playing any sport, player welfare is always of paramount importance.

“As a result of scientific knowledge, the sport of Rugby League continues to improve and develop its approach to concussion, head injury assessment, education, management and prevention across the whole game.

“We will continue to use medical evidence and research to reinforce and enhance our approach.”

https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/sport/r ... on-3435216

[josie andrews]

I just wonder how much Boardman & Ryland’s solicitors will make out of this??

Same with the administrators who ‘worked’ for Latics! They dragged everything out I feel!

[Shaun1967]

More in depth article here
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/spor ... noses.html
This is the astonishing bit for him to come out with; he admits protocols where in place but that the players cheated them. He then claims this is the authorities fault for not supervising them.
“ The only recognition of the dangers of concussion Goulding received during a playing career that began at Wigan in 1990 and finished with a player-coaching stint at Rochdale 15 years later was a pre-season baseline cognitive assessment which, he claims, was completely unsupervised, thus allowing the players to cheat and making a mockery of the entire process.
'We had the test to do on the computer at the start of the season to set our template for the year, which you'd come back to if you had a head injury, but players cheated all the time,' he says.

'You had to come back and do it if you were injured and beat your previous time.

'But we'd give each other our passwords and do it for each other all the time. There was no one overseeing the process so you'd have people doing it for their mate who was injured.“

[Mike]

Dementia can hit anyone whether they play sport or not.

Fraid so, but its about proportional increase in risk, and whether the mitigation and information about that has been correctly acted on.

[DaveO]

More in depth article here
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/spor ... noses.html
This is the astonishing bit for him to come out with; he admits protocols where in place but that the players cheated them. He then claims this is the authorities fault for not supervising them.
“ The only recognition of the dangers of concussion Goulding received during a playing career that began at Wigan in 1990 and finished with a player-coaching stint at Rochdale 15 years later was a pre-season baseline cognitive assessment which, he claims, was completely unsupervised, thus allowing the players to cheat and making a mockery of the entire process.
'We had the test to do on the computer at the start of the season to set our template for the year, which you'd come back to if you had a head injury, but players cheated all the time,' he says.

'You had to come back and do it if you were injured and beat your previous time.

'But we'd give each other our passwords and do it for each other all the time. There was no one overseeing the process so you'd have people doing it for their mate who was injured.“

So given he ended up as a coach was he rigorously supervising and enforcing these tests?

If not is he going to sue himself?