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Thread: James Graham

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    Learning All The Songs St Willy's Avatar
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    Default James Graham

    James has revealed that he's had an MRI scan which has revealed that part of his brain is damaged.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/nr...in-damage.html

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    Sad to hear that there are issues, but good that they seem relatively mild given how he played the game. He's probably one of the last 'warrior' type players who grew up and played their careers in an era when it was considered the done thing to carry on after concussions. I saw him do it so, so many times at Knowsley Road, he'd clearly be in lala land and he's get up and swat the physio away. He'd growl at the opposition and twenty seconds later he'd be chasing to make the next hit or taking the next carry. And we all cheered him to the rafters. 100 concussions though, that's what 1 in every 5 games he played? Mental that.

    Longer mandatory bans are essential going forward when concussion is found to have occurred. Also monthly MOT's for the players, completed independently to identify developing issues.

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    Scary isn't it and for these contact sports going forward there is a real danger of less backing generally to support them
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    Quote Originally Posted by CGSaint View Post
    Scary isn't it and for these contact sports going forward there is a real danger of less backing generally to support them
    Hopefully not. The sport has made great strides and hopefully a player that comes through now will be far better protected from repeated concussion injuries. There has been a mindset shift from 'Be a man, get on with it' to 'Oh god, can you carry on?' and we need to move it to 'no chance, see you for an assessment in two weeks'.

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    You do have to wonder how many amature players are suffering from things like this as well. I know from my time playing in the 90's i saw a lot of people suffering head knocks and concussions and suffered quite a few myself.

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    For me, one of the easiest solutions is to reduce the number of allowed substitutions and to reduce the 10m down to 5m. That way they game becomes less about impact and more about the skill of opening up a defence with skill and the fatigue of the big guys.


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    Quote Originally Posted by BILLINGE View Post
    For me, one of the easiest solutions is to reduce the number of allowed substitutions and to reduce the 10m down to 5m. That way they game becomes less about impact and more about the skill of opening up a defence with skill and the fatigue of the big guys.


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    That would be awful to watch though. They don't need to make massive changes to the sport. Get rid of six agains and allow more subsitutions to reduce the impact of fatigue. And longer bans for players who've had head knocks. And work towards fewer games once it's commercially possible.

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    Didn't Jammer crash his car into Leons car for dying his hair? Could have banged his head there?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Rommel View Post
    Didn't Jammer crash his car into Leons car for dying his hair? Could have banged his head there?
    I typed a post up then deleted it, this tongue in cheek isn’t far off my point either so I for one, appreciate it.

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    Quote Originally Posted by BILLINGE View Post
    For me, one of the easiest solutions is to reduce the number of allowed substitutions and to reduce the 10m down to 5m. That way they game becomes less about impact and more about the skill of opening up a defence with skill and the fatigue of the big guys.


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    Both Murphy and Dave Topliss spoke about reducing the 10m. They both thought the extra space killed HB’s creativity.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Saddened! View Post
    That would be awful to watch though. They don't need to make massive changes to the sport. Get rid of six agains and allow more subsitutions to reduce the impact of fatigue. And longer bans for players who've had head knocks. And work towards fewer games once it's commercially possible.
    Absolutely, a blight on the game and merely a means for refs to manage games. They are so arbitrary, for every six again given, I could find another dozen or so in the same game.

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    I've been listening to the podcast (Head Noise) he made about the process of getting the scans etc done - good on him. I'm really glad that the sport seems to be taking it more seriously. The doctors Jammer's been talking to and the experts on the podcast all seem concerned about player welfare and one thing that really stood out to me is the 11 day period. Jammer and the experts suggested that if this was changed to 14 days it would ensure a player misses 2 games, rather than the possibility of missing just 1 game over 11 days. Surely, we could implement some changes without losing the contact aspect of RL. The more we learn the better we can protect current players. The better we protect our players the more better-quality games we get to enjoy.

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    Scary thought but during much of Graham’s career and certainly the era before, it was almost a badge of honour to be concussed or knocked out and get back out on the field and tackling and taking carries in during an attacking set. With much more of a focus on the long term health of players, we’ll probably hear a lot more about this kind of thing happening to players of a certain era.

    It’s also why I wasn’t particularly fussed with the crackdown at the start of this year. The crackdown wouldn’t have just been because Bobbie Goulding and some other former players begun trying to sue the sport but also with some data behind it, too. It’s something that we’ll have to get used to. As there’s more interest in this area and with the progressions in science, we’ll see plenty of changes relating to player safety going forward.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dos Cervezas View Post
    Scary thought but during much of Graham’s career and certainly the era before, it was almost a badge of honour to be concussed or knocked out and get back out on the field and tackling and taking carries in during an attacking set. With much more of a focus on the long term health of players, we’ll probably hear a lot more about this kind of thing happening to players of a certain era.

    It’s also why I wasn’t particularly fussed with the crackdown at the start of this year. The crackdown wouldn’t have just been because Bobbie Goulding and some other former players begun trying to sue the sport but also with some data behind it, too. It’s something that we’ll have to get used to. As there’s more interest in this area and with the progressions in science, we’ll see plenty of changes relating to player safety going forward.
    I always remember the Leeds game (at Leeds) and most of the forwards were targetting Graham with head tackles but the referee didn't do anything about it, Graham was gesturing to the referee but was ignored. I reckon Graham was on the receiving end of at least 6 to 8 head tackles and later refused to do the end of game handshake and just walked off instead.

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    Quote Originally Posted by STIDDY View Post
    I always remember the Leeds game (at Leeds) and most of the forwards were targetting Graham with head tackles but the referee didn't do anything about it, Graham was gesturing to the referee but was ignored. I reckon Graham was on the receiving end of at least 6 to 8 head tackles and later refused to do the end of game handshake and just walked off instead.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2Gd...nnel=GazLovatt

    A clash of heads Graham was involved in when we played Huddersfield. Unbelievably Robinson was allowed to stay on the pitch.

    I'm glad and find it quite honourable, that Graham uses his profile for the right reasons to bring attention to this rather than trying to make a few extra quid like others.
    Last edited by SaintJon; 9th October 2022 at 10:24.

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    Absolutely I've just seen another post of Goulding and Co.. which sounds horrific what he is going through if he isn't completely exaggerating.. but the whole thing just doesn't feel right..
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    Quote Originally Posted by CGSaint View Post
    Absolutely I've just seen another post of Goulding and Co.. which sounds horrific what he is going through if he isn't completely exaggerating.. but the whole thing just doesn't feel right..
    Since I saw the first article on this some time ago I’ve stayed quiet to some extent. Now this is actually coming to fruition and all of these mercenaries are taking our game to the cleaners, I just cannot.
    How can a player, who hardly lived the ultimate professional lifestyle off the pitch, through putting chemicals (I’ll keep it to that) into his body each and every weekend. Lived a party lifestyle and to some extent, especially the chemical part, hasn’t changed vastly in 30 years look to get a claim (let’s be right, that is all this is about) from the governing body of a sport he played?

    Utterly disgusting and should be ashamed, but when there’s pound coins available, who needs a moral compass??

    I’m glad other professionals are now starting to speak out against this ‘movement’ on social media etc. and long may that continue. Improve the game, make it safer, no one would ever disagree. Makes clubs more welfare focussed than just simply results… I think we’ve made huge inroads to that.

    This claim is solely for the money as is the other 74 mercenaries who have jumped on its band wagon.

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    I think it boils down to how much awareness of concussion there was at the time, particularly the long term effects. The answer, across all sports, is comparatively little compared to now. Now that we do know, measures have been put in place. This is ultimately why I think their legal challenge will fail. The clubs, medical staff, governing body weren't being knowingly neglectful as they didn't have the scientific evidence to hand

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    Quote Originally Posted by Nickles Forearm View Post
    Since I saw the first article on this some time ago I’ve stayed quiet to some extent. Now this is actually coming to fruition and all of these mercenaries are taking our game to the cleaners, I just cannot.
    How can a player, who hardly lived the ultimate professional lifestyle off the pitch, through putting chemicals (I’ll keep it to that) into his body each and every weekend. Lived a party lifestyle and to some extent, especially the chemical part, hasn’t changed vastly in 30 years look to get a claim (let’s be right, that is all this is about) from the governing body of a sport he played?

    Utterly disgusting and should be ashamed, but when there’s pound coins available, who needs a moral compass??

    I’m glad other professionals are now starting to speak out against this ‘movement’ on social media etc. and long may that continue. Improve the game, make it safer, no one would ever disagree. Makes clubs more welfare focussed than just simply results… I think we’ve made huge inroads to that.

    This claim is solely for the money as is the other 74 mercenaries who have jumped on its band wagon.
    Having heard some stories about a few of the players involved in this,i think you are bang on with that

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    I don’t feel comfortable with “well, you’ve drunk alcohol and taken cocaine” as a direct response to Bobbie Goulding wanting some form of compensation from the sport. He’s within his rights to seek what he feels is owed to him. It’s up to others to decide whether he’s actually owed that. There’s probably going to be a defence that alcohol and cocaine were used as a result of consequences of head injuries, I’m sure, but I don’t know enough about the body and the head to have an opinion on that.

    The game’s different from ten years ago, let alone nearly thirty years ago. The era of fighting and a lack of protection for players, let alone halves, is long gone and with evidence from players in this era, like Jammer, looking at their future in more detail and getting diagnoses like he has, I bet there’s plenty of players from eras gone by with similar situations and others with similar experiences to Goulding, regardless of any extra activities he may have partaken in
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dos Cervezas View Post
    Scary thought but during much of Graham’s career and certainly the era before, it was almost a badge of honour to be concussed or knocked out and get back out on the field and tackling and taking carries in during an attacking set. With much more of a focus on the long term health of players, we’ll probably hear a lot more about this kind of thing happening to players of a certain era.

    It’s also why I wasn’t particularly fussed with the crackdown at the start of this year. The crackdown wouldn’t have just been because Bobbie Goulding and some other former players begun trying to sue the sport but also with some data behind it, too. It’s something that we’ll have to get used to. As there’s more interest in this area and with the progressions in science, we’ll see plenty of changes relating to player safety going forward.
    This is true - Back in the day , players getting cleaned out only to run back in the field after a whiff of smelling salts and a squeeze of magic sponge .

    Make you cringe at the thought now

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    I don’t think anyone can fool the doctors by pretending to have dementia and I fail to see how people living with the condition deserve anything but sympathy, regardless of whether they’re part of a group legal action against one or other of the sporting bodies involved. I doubt that any of them thought that a series of concussions, many of them minor knocks, could lead to the onset of such a frightening disease.

    I doubt whether any of the players involved or the sporting bodies knew the dangers back in the day and foreseeability is going to be a difficult one for the courts. If any of the claimants is known to have drunk to excess or taken illegal drugs, I’m sure that will be raised in defence and will be one for medical evidence and the judge.

    Jammer has done the sensible thing in having the MRI scan. Knowing the result must be worrying for him and it’s brave to want to know.

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    Quote Originally Posted by BILLINGE View Post
    For me, one of the easiest solutions is to reduce the number of allowed substitutions and to reduce the 10m down to 5m. That way they game becomes less about impact and more about the skill of opening up a defence with skill and the fatigue of the big guys.


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    I actually think the rise in number of interchanges has had the opposite effect. Big, fresh men coming on all the time that need tackling. How many times do we see someone come off the bench, Paasi for example, and leave players out cold with their first or second carry...I also think less subs would open the game up more and make it more exciting to watch. Perhaps aim for a situation where props are playing 40 mins each in one go rather than 2 x 15 or 20

    I'm not sure on the 5m thing. It might be worth a try in some trial games but it made for some scrappy games back in the day. Six agains should definitely go immediately. Absolutely brutal on defenders and an easy fix

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    Quote Originally Posted by Saddened! View Post
    That would be awful to watch though.
    Seriously? You've basically just said that RL would have been awful to watch pre 1990s, when it was quite easily a more compelling and interesting sport before we went to 10m and added 85 substitutions a game.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dos Cervezas View Post
    I don’t feel comfortable with “well, you’ve drunk alcohol and taken cocaine” as a direct response to Bobbie Goulding wanting some form of compensation from the sport. He’s within his rights to seek what he feels is owed to him. It’s up to others to decide whether he’s actually owed that. There’s probably going to be a defence that alcohol and cocaine were used as a result of consequences of head injuries, I’m sure, but I don’t know enough about the body and the head to have an opinion on that.

    The game’s different from ten years ago, let alone nearly thirty years ago. The era of fighting and a lack of protection for players, let alone halves, is long gone and with evidence from players in this era, like Jammer, looking at their future in more detail and getting diagnoses like he has, I bet there’s plenty of players from eras gone by with similar situations and others with similar experiences to Goulding, regardless of any extra activities he may have partaken in
    It's a difficult one for sure. Back when Goulding was playing, carrying on with concussion was a badge of honour and the pressure to play the game after suffering a concussion would have been there. However, the clubs and the governing body at the time wouldn't have known the links to brain injury and dementia. So what is the claim actually for? I understand totally the players involved bringing the action if they feel they were wronged, but given the advancements in medical knowledge and the risks involved, it seems like a spurious claim to me. But I guess that is what the case is for, to establish if there is a liability on the part of the governing body. The NFL in America lost a similar case I believe, so well worth pursuing. I guess if it's the RFL they go after, they can bankrupt that and they can start again with new leadership. The behaviour of the players is also a factor, players of that era were usually more willing to fight than these days. Goulding as an example probably took 30-50 punches to the head, minimum during his career. How does the blame for that fall on the governing body?

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