NSW State of Origin doctor Nathan Gibbs said the 11-day stand down had been implemented in an effort to prevent players from returning too early, but scientifically it has no correlation to proven recovery time.

“The eleven-day period simply is in place because it takes the Thursday game to the next Sunday game – that’s 11 days – so it means a player would miss the next weekend’s fixtures as a minimum in that situation,” Gibbs said.

“They are arbitrary stand-down periods; they’re not dealing with an individual concussion in a player, which can definitely have a variable recovery rate.”

Eleven days can be more than enough time for one person to recover, said Gibbs, but another may need weeks, or even months.

“The symptoms of a concussion can vary immensely between different individuals ... and all concussion injuries can have a totally variable recovery time, not based upon the initial symptom severity,” Gibbs said.

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“Sometimes the headache after the game can be the person who has it [a concussion] for six weeks. The loss-of-consciousness player can be 100 per cent normal in the dressing room an hour after the game. So, the initial symptom severity has no correlation with the recovery time.”

The solution to the concussion issue is far from simple, Newton said, but it is a complicated problem that needs a comprehensive response.

“The management of head injuries and trauma is also about minimising the risk of them occurring, not just diagnosis and return-to-play management,” he said. “Contact loads at training come into that, and so do the season schedule and turnaround times after NRL and representative games.

“We will continue to advocate for the game to be vigilant in this space. Taking caution is better than standing still, and it is critical that the players’ association and governing body work together.”

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