James Graham shoots down Aussie journo in on-air spat

[josie andrews]

Former St Helens prop James Graham has been in an on-air spat on Australian TV when talking about concussion.

Arguing with Dean Ritchie on NRL 360, he was in a heated debate around the reason for St George Illawarra’s Moses Suli being knocked out, immediately after kick-off on Anzac Day.

He asked Ritchie what he thought the reason for the incident was, before shouting ‘wrong, wrong, wrong’ before he could finish

The former St Helens legend blamed Jaydn Su’a, Suli’s teammate, for the incident, while Ritchie was on the side of changing how kick-offs work in NRL, something that has been proposed in an effort to avoid high-speed collisions.

Graham then moved on to talk more generally about the issue of concussions in the sport.

“It’s a safety versus spectacle debate – how safe do you want it to be?

“If you want the game to be safe, you’re watching the wrong game.”

Footage of James Graham putting Ritchie down for all Rugby League fans to see on Fox’s NRL 360 show was shared on social media and can be watched in the embedded post at the bottom of the article.

The St Helens legend has received a lot of praise from fans online, with suggestions that he speaks more like someone who has played the game than other pundits on the show, and is clearly very passionate about the debate on concussion in rugby league.

James Graham and his previous comments on concussion

James Graham is also someone who’s spoken at length on this topic.

Previously, as part of a debate on concussion in the sport for Sky Sports, Graham gave his views on concussion.

He said: “We have a huge emphasis on winning and performance culture, we don’t have an emphasis on health culture.

“It’s just perhaps tipping the scales slightly in favour of the health aspect of sport.

“Concussion is on the mind of anyone involved in the sport at the moment. It’s all very well and good the best neurologists in the world to tell us about the dangers of concussion and continuing to play.

But from a players’ and athletes’ perspective, we know the pressures that come with it and the sacrifices we’ve made.

“It’s about bringing many stakeholders of the game along with us.”

He’s more qualified to talk on this issue than most as well: he’s got dark spots on his brain, which are believed to be due to blows to the head.

However, he’s not fully in favour of just making the sport as safe as possible.

Speaking on recent rule changes from the RFL in an attempt to combat concussion, he said last year: “For me I’m like, is that the primary goal of our sport? To make it safe?

“Safer, but 100% safe? I think things like inclusivity are a bit of a buzzword at the moment.

I don’t know if tackle and contact sport is for every kid. Certain people are attracted to this sport because there is that physical element to it.

“I’ve got to say, I think some of them are a bit of an overreach and the unintended consequences of these decisions could be incredibly detrimental to the game.”

https://www.seriousaboutrl.com/watch-ja ... ed-stories

[archiekeith]

Graham says if you want the game to be "safe" then your watching the wrong game! What an indictment of our SPORT! Of coarse we want our sport to be as safe has it can be within the rules of our game
If the game is played within the rules and in the right spirit then our game is safe as is possible. It goes without saying that in a physical game accidents will occur. but as stated above playing the game according to the rules of the game accidents will be significantly be reduced , so I believe. Accidents will occur however say in tackling an opponent if the protocol of the game are upheld. ie,fair an safety. A collision is a collision is a collision especially when executed at high speed! It's not a tackle however much of a so called "spectacle it appears to be. It's dangerous! Or potentially so. Only the other day I saw a defending player,prone in possession of the ball. Going nowhere so to speak when he was dropped on by an attacking player followed by another player dropping on the pair of them still prostrate when all that was required was for the initial attacker to place his hand thus completing a tackle within the rules of the game and thus enabling a quick play the ball hopefully.
It's not me who wants to see fast open rugby as compared with Graham's dangerous spectacle. It's me watching "skill" and him whose coaching rugby or should I say dangerous " thugby "Go and coach cage boxing

[Ipinwigan]

Great to see an ex player standing up for the game, need more of them and current players to agree on a common sense approach to the game.
It is a high impact sport, which is the attraction of it to supporters, to water it down loses it's appeal.
The only way to make the game safe and reduce head contact, is to play tag rugby, which no one wants to watch.

[archiekeith]

Great to see an ex player standing up for the game, need more of them and current players to agree on a common sense approach to the game.
It is a high impact sport, which is the attraction of it to supporters, to water it down loses it's appeal.
The only way to make the game safe and reduce head contact, is to play tag rugby, which no one wants to watch.

So the only way to reduce head contact is to watch tag rugby? I suggest that coaches coach according to the rules of the game and not how to circumvent them and players play within the rules Quite obviously rugby league is constituted by the protocol and rules of the game so logically if you don't play according to them your Not Playing rugby league. End of!

[Ipinwigan]

Great to see an ex player standing up for the game, need more of them and current players to agree on a common sense approach to the game.
It is a high impact sport, which is the attraction of it to supporters, to water it down loses it's appeal.
The only way to make the game safe and reduce head contact, is to play tag rugby, which no one wants to watch.

So the only way to reduce head contact is to watch tag rugby? I suggest that coaches coach according to the rules of the game and not how to circumvent them and players play within the rules Quite obviously rugby league is constituted by the protocol and rules of the game so logically if you don't play according to them your Not Playing rugby league. End of!

The game has always had head contact, be it accidental or deliberate and nothing will ever stop that happening, whatever rules they apply.

[josie andrews]

Super League head contact dramatically reduced as new data underlines law changes


Tackles around head and neck height, as well as head-on-head collisions, have been dramatically reduced in the opening three months of the new Super League season, Love Rugby League can reveal.

The RFL introduced a raft of law changes in the winter designed at reducing the amount of contact around the head in rugby league – including introducing stricter punishments for tackles around the head.

https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/su ... aw-changes

[Raging Penguin]

Hi Josie,

Is it possible to get access to the data, or is it merely an article making claims?

[josie andrews]

Hi Josie,

Is it possible to get access to the data, or is it merely an article making claims?

Just an article, don’t know where you would get the data from.

[Blackpool_Pie]

Hi Josie,

Is it possible to get access to the data, or is it merely an article making claims?

Josie is posting articles to raise debate which is exactly what happened here. Without trying to come across as an arse, if you want the data, try looking for it yourself

[thegimble]

It is incredible how a few lawyers, Doctors and ex players and drunk jurnos. (Paul Kent was hilarious btw) who have little to do with the game has taken control of it

When I played union as a prop I knew the risks of serious back injury broken bones and getting ko. Players should especially now know they are better protected on head injuries than at anytime. Even scrummaging in union is a lot safer

But there are no guarantees of anyone not ending up in a wheelchair for the rest of their lives or having long term brain injuries. It's a choice players in both codes make. But as in todays society personal choice is becoming enforced choice. Can we just let players make the choice on all the evidence and if they do not want to play then they can walk away.

But the clubs must release all known research to the players. And as a prop I loved taking the ball in the first hit of the game. Endorphins is a bugger.