Awful to read, pro players are better looked after these days compared to his time. No one should come out the other end like that
Rough reading that. Rob Burrow was on TV here last night, Kevin Sinfield had been doing 7 marathons in the last 7 days to fundraise for him. Itās only 3 years since he retired but the poor man is in a very bad way, just 38.
Didnt realise he was early 40s thought he was much older. Its awful. They didnāt have a clue in the early pro days. Get bigger hit harder means you win and go again a week later. The IRFU protection policy of the top internationals these days gets negative publicity too much imho when you compare it to this
Does this mean Cian Healyās IQ will likely increase?
Itās still a huge issue, anyone thinking this is a problem from the early days is badly mistaken. The collisions are even bigger now than in Thompsons time. This big lawsuit on the way will be interesting, rumours that a prominent former Irish international is 1 of the 70 players involved.
Thatās the end of that then.
I wonder would you fit a GAA pitch on that nice rugby pitch at the front of Blackrock College?
Collisions are much better now but strength and conditioning has improved to lessen the injury impact on the body. Better technique and stricter application of laws from refs also lessen the impact of big collisions. The players these days are in far better condition than Thomsons day, there is very few big lads playing that have fat pouring out of them to make up extra weight. Compare Andrew Porter to any tighthead from the 00s.
Rest has become a massive factor and the emphasis on recovery particularly after physical games.
Maybe you are right but Iām very dubious on it, time will tell. The biggest difference I can see in recent years is that lads are retiring early due to injury rather than trying to squeeze another few years out of the game. Connacht have had a couple of lads retire in their mid 20s in recent years due to concussion problems, 10 years ago they would almost certainly have tried to stay going. When they see lads like Thompson they are weighing things up and coming to the right conclusion, hopefully it is enough to mean they can live the rest of their lives unaffected.
The Comeback Kid ā¦ (go ahead lads)
Wonder could soccer and repeatedly heading the ball become an issue too. There are calls to prohibit it altogether in day to day training.
Plenty of talk on just that. Kevin Doyle was on Second Captains or Newstalk last week saying he regrets heading the ball as much as he did knowing now the effect it may have had. Said in particular thinks of all the time at training where he was heading it and concerns him.
You would wonder if Jiminez career is over.
I hope not but that was a truly sickening blow and he is lucky to be out of hospital already. It was made all the worse by the fact there were no fans in the ground to drown out the sound of the impact.
Looking at the NFL, there is probably a lot of undiagnosed CTE in rugby. Eddie Jones, while on the wum, wasnāt far wrong questioning what state Johnny Sexton will finish up in
I didnāt remember who Steve Thomson was at first
Then I didnāt feel so bad because he probably doesnāt either
Thatās a tough watch. All jokes aside Sexton is mad to be trying to play to 38 and the next world cup. If I was a family member Iād be having a serious chat with him.
Thatās very sad.
I donāt know what the answer is. I hate rugby but I like things like boxing, MMA and lately American football, and those sports are either partially or wholly more entertaining because of the big hits.
Rugby has eaten itself. Young fellas these days from age of 14 are already on supplements and the game has become too much about power and impacts. In NFL they do walk throughs a lot of the time. The season is very condensed and they dont practice for the collisions. The same cant really be said for rugby. Iām not sure helmets make any discernable difference but at least in NFL they seem to have started taking it seriously. You only have to see instances involved with Sexton, George North and Pocock in rugby to see there is an omerta surrounding concussion. Until now.