CLEA chief Peter V’landys insists the “right process” was followed to assess Isaah Yeo for a possible concussion at the home party’s inaugural match, although he also said which is “pretty obvious” that should have come from the field.
Yeo hit his head in the first inning of Wednesday’s game and appeared to stumble as he returned to the defensive line.
He was assessed on the field by the coach of New South Wales, while the independent bunker doctor checked all available angles of the incident.
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Maroons star Cameron Munster said Thursday that seeing Yeo stumble made him “sick.”
Yeo insisted after the match that he was not attacked.
When Ben Fordham of 2GB Radio asked him if Yeo should have been taken off the field or not, V’landys left no doubt as to what should have happened.
“Yeah, I think I should have gone out,” he said.
“We have an independent doctor at the Bunker, they’re on trial. .
“Looking at the vision, it’s pretty obvious he should have come out.”
Although V’landys believes that Yeo should have come from the field, he also defended the process that allowed the blue block to continue. The independent doctor ruled that Yeo was a “category three” requiring additional control by the coach.
“We presented it this year, putting an independent doctor in the bunker to make those decisions,” he explained.
“They followed the correct processes, they immediately informed the coach, the coach made an assessment, they reassessed him in the middle and he did not show any symptoms.
“The bunker doctor may know better than (us), but at first glance, it certainly looked like he should have come out.”
Isaah Yeo receives a hit at the start of the first State of Origin game. (new)
The head of the ARLC noted that the independent doctor had access to a vision that was not transmitted and noted that the game has made great strides in recent years in the fight against concussion.
“They have all the different angles of all the cameras, they’ll see it a lot faster than what you can see live,” V’landys said.
“We take the shock and the well – being of the players very seriously. Our actions have shown that, we do not tolerate blows to the head.
“The well-being of the player is paramount to us.
“The right process was followed. With this person in the bunker, we were able to notify the referee and coach to make sure he was evaluated.”
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