Us older fans who say "bring back the biff" and even current fans who bemoan the outlawing of the shoulder charge would do well to pause and reflect upon this.

The NFL has introduced plenty of rule changes which have been massively unpopular with the fans, who complain it is softening the game. But they have had no choice but to do so.

You might find this interesting reading. The NFL is slightly different because the helmet, although design as protection, may actual cause more damage as contact with the head wasn't, and still isn't in some cases, automatically illegal. Nevertheless, the denial of the issue and the macho "shake it off" mantra clearly still applies to rugby league, if Hoihia's account is to be believed.

[urlhttp://www.rd.com/health/conditions/mike-webster-brain-injury/[/url

They don't protect from concussion unfortunately. In fact the false sense of security they give can make concussion more likely. They wear helmets in the NFL and fat lot of good that does.

I've never liked the shoulder charge, I actually don't really remember it from my early days of watching the game. High shots were commonplace but I don't remember the shoulder charge being common. It's obviously very dangerous and has gone the way of the spear tackle (which was originally coached as I remember) and rightly been outlawed. A player at full tilt suddenly stopped dead by a big impact is exactly the sort of motion that causes the brain to collide with the interior of the skull and cause damage.

Biff is another matter. I'm not sure what the results would be if we went back and did a retrospective study of league players from the 60's onwards what we would find. My own feeling is that even in the "era of the biff" as it seems to be known now, I can't remember too many players taking a knockout blow in actual games I have attended - I have a memory of Les Gorley being assisted from the field after a fracas with Roy Dickinson but that's about it. However, I've seen many, many players knocked out by late high shots (now gone from the game) and general collisions.

I know Wrestling isn't a Sport, but classed as "Sports Entertainment" but a number of incidents attributed to concussion have been investigated over the last few years.

The most high profile was the Wrestler Chris Benoit, who killed his Family and then hung himself on this Weights Machine. The autopsy revealed extensive brain damage caused by concussion related injuries from head shots (Chairs, etc..) and hitting the mat and other Wrestlers with the head.

It is a serious issue and one that needs to be handled very carefully.

Is concussion always caused by blows to the head? Can it not also be caused by high impact collisions on the body that causes the brain to effectively pinball around the skull? Essentially what is a core part of our game.

Point being that I totally agree head shots and other dangerous tackles need to be well policed but actually where we protect players most is by better and consistent player assessment and onfield protection.

Hohiah alludes to years of playing impact sport being the real factor with flowers thuggery just being the final straw.

On a related note and key to my earlier point I was disgusted by the lack of player welfare shown by Thaler as Delaney staggered about the pitch in his view. Much more needs to be done.

DHM - agree entirely about the shoulder charge. Fans supporting it talked as though it had always been around. IMO it was extremely rare (if not unknown) in the 80s, and most of the 90s. I'd guess it crept into the game and because daft commentators and fans wet themselves over the 'big hit' element it took off. It was never the integral part of the game some claimed it to be.

SBW was the first I remember doing it regularly. The hit on Bai in the 2005 WCC exemplified exactly why it should always have been illegal. A shoulder directly into a player's head leaving him virtually unconscious. If it was any other kind of tackle that caused that damage the tackler would have been sent off. I still don't understand why players weren't being sent off for it when it first came out.

Fallon - your point about whiplash brain injury is also important, and another reason why the shoulder charge should was banned outright in the NRL.