Ricky Stuart has backed Wayne Bennett’s call to scrap the NRL’s independent doctor and believes clubs should be trusted with identifying possible in-game concussions.
In a blunt message to the sport’s administrators, Stuart also accused the NRL and players’ union of not trusting coaches when it comes to the health of the game’s stars.
Stuart’s Canberra Raiders side were left without fullback Sebastian Kris and lock Corey Harawira-Naera for 15-minute periods during their 19-18 opening-round loss to North Queensland on Saturday, after the pair were ordered off for concussion checks.
The duo were cleared to return but Stuart was miffed by the decision of the independent doctor in the bunker to take Kris off the field in the second half after a knock.
Saturday’s situation came in the wake of unhappy Newcastle star Kalyn Ponga being forced from the field late in the Knights’ loss to the Warriors on Friday night.
That incident prompted Dolphins coach Bennett to claim on Saturday that the system would work much better if clubs were back in charge, with points penalties and fines enforced to ensure protocols were correctly followed.
Stuart on Saturday night said he did not agree with Bennett often, but in this case he did.
“The NRL – they don’t trust coaches,” he said.
“Do you think I’d let a player play if he had a concussion or is concussed?
“I don’t just trust the player’s comments when he comes to the sideline.
“But when (Kris was) down, getting his leg attended to, and I ask him – and there was no fatigue and there was no pain in his eyes in regards to when he came off.
“He was very coherent. That didn’t help us in that game.”
Stuart said the Rugby League Players Association (RLPA) did not trust coaches either, and had let the players down by not pushing against an afternoon game in Townsville in early March.
“The RLPA, they don’t trust coaches,” Stuart said.
“All they want to do is come and talk to me about how much more time off the players are going to get and how much more money.
“I didn’t hear anyone from the RLPA come out and try to go to the NRL in regards to playing up here at 4.30 in the afternoon.
“We’re very lucky that it wasn’t the humidity it was yesterday, because that could have been dangerous.”
The NRL have had an independent doctor in the bunker since the start of last season, with both the league and club doctors given the power to remove players from the field for a concussion check, or order an on-field test.
NRL officials have argued that having a doctor in the bunker allows them to view replays from multiple angles quicker in a calmer environment than on the sideline.
Tim Sheens, Trent Robinson and Todd Payten have all backed the use of the independent doctor this weekend.
By Fraser Barton in Townsville
