THE RFL’S Director of Operations and Legal, Robert Hicks, has explained why rugby league players would not be able to sign a waiver in order to protect the sport from future claims.
The sport of rugby league has been met by lawsuits from over 100 former players, accusing the governing body of negligence surrounding concussion and head knocks.
Since that issue arose at the beginning of last year, measures have been put in place in a bid to make the sport safer, from longer concussion protocols to now mandatory mouthguards and new rules.
There has since been an argument made that players could potentially sign waivers to ensure the sport was protected from any future claims, but Hicks has revealed why that is not even an option.
“For a start, waivers are not legally enforceable so they are not a total defence for a governing body. For a second reason, we actually don’t know what all the risks are to the brain,” Hicks said on the Laying Down The Law podcast on Sky Sports.
“You can’t know all the risks, the waiver wouldn’t allow that. The law says that waivers are evidential but are not a total defence. From an insurance perspective, they could be evidentially supported.
“What’s been really pleasing this week is that the players are engaging with us on this journey. They want to he game to be safer but they also want to have those adrenaline hits.
“Their involvement in this could be really important for shaping the future.”
Clamouring for a players’ union and representation has grown in recent weeks and months, with Salford Red Devils star Ryan Brierley setting up a Zoom call with fellow players a fortnight ago.
Whereas the NRL has an effective Rugby League Players’ Association (RLPA), the same cannot be said of Super League players.
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