Bulldogs winger Jacob Kiraz has defended the NRL impartial bunker’s safety-first strategy to concussion after he was taken off within the first half towards Manly with what he described as “whiplash”.
His coach, Cameron Ciraldo, stated Kiraz was “clearly fine” after the impartial physician within the bunker ordered him from the sphere following a collision with Kelma Tuilagi.
Kiraz was capable of return within the second half however not earlier than the Sea Eagles had scored by means of Reuben Garrick after Kyle Flanagan was despatched to the sin bin for making contact with Tom Trbojevic because the fullback chased a unfastened ball.
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The position of the impartial physician has been within the highlight all week with Raiders coach Ricky Stuart accusing the NRL and RLPA of not trusting coaches to correctly diagnose indicators of concussion.
Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett went even additional, saying golf equipment needs to be held extra accountable and that it was time to eliminate the impartial physician.
It’s a fragile topic given the sport is barely making an attempt to guard gamers, with the impartial physician reviewing all footage because it is available in to find out whether or not somebody must be taken from the sphere or routinely dominated out if the warning indicators are there.
“I haven’t really reviewed it and I haven’t seen a video of it or anything, but I just know it was a run and I may have got whiplash. But I was fine after it,” Kiraz stated.
“I got confused when the physio told me I had to get off. Obviously I know their (the NRL) intentions aren’t bad and they don’t want me to get out of the game, but at the time it was a crucial moment.
“I was fine, ended up passing the test and went back on in the second half. I know their intentions aren’t to get me out of the game so we can lose the game.”
Kiraz stated he was pissed off to return off however made it clear that he helps the NRL’s intention to safeguard gamers from doing extra harm to themselves.
“For me it was (frustrating) because I knew I was fine,” he stated.
“For me going off and knowing I had no control over that, I knew I was fine to play and I went back on in the second half. I was frustrated because I wanted to go out and play and I knew I was fine to play.
“I know that it’s not their intentions, but it was a crucial time of the game, especially with Flanno being sin binned. There’s nothing we can do.
“The last couple of years, there have been lots of head knocks and stuff like that. After their careers, a lot of players are suffering from that so I understand the intentions.
“I still need to see the video. I felt fine because I think after the run I made an offload so I felt really fine. Whatever they did see, they only had good intentions to look after me.
“As a player in the moment, I was frustrated and wanted to get back on. After it, I realised that they’re just trying to look after us.”
The winger stated his aspect needed to be higher in coping with setbacks like him coming off or Flanagan being despatched to the bin, with the Bulldogs determined to bounce again towards a weakened Storm aspect on Saturday night time.
“This stuff is going to happen where players are sent off by the independent doctor and then the sin bin happened. As a team, we need to know how to handle it better,” he stated.
“We were defending the whole first half, but this stuff is going to happen and we need to practise dealing with it better. We can’t use it as an excuse.”
Source web site: www.foxsports.com.au
