Super League 2022: How rugby league's TaCKLE Project is shaping concussion and welfare changes

Gumshields with instruments in them to measure head accelerations are being used across Super League

As contact sports come to terms with the growing evidence around the long-term effects of repeated concussions suffered by participants, rugby league is taking steps to further understand more about those head impacts.

Led by Professor Ben Jones and his team, the TaCKLE Project - TaCKLE standing for tackle and contact kinematics, load and exposure - is being jointly undertaken by the Betfred Super League and the RFL, and uses instrumented mouthguards to assess what happens to players.

Mouthguards that contain accelerometers and gyroscopes have previously been used by the likes of Leeds Rhinos and Salford Red Devils, but have now been deployed across all 12 Super League clubs and other areas of the sport to inform how to mitigate and treat head injuries.

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"We're aware of the seriousness of concussion and at the start of the 2020 season, Leeds Rhinos started using instrumented mouthguards and they replaced traditional gumshields," said Jones, who works closely with the national team set-up as the head of performance for the England Performance Unit.

"The reason we say 'head accelerations' and not 'head impacts' is that would capture the whiplash, which isn't a type of head impact injury but requires the head to move quickly.

"What we did as a sport was come together to say: 'let's work together', identify who we think is the best mouthguard provider for rugby league, deploy these across the men's Super League, academy, Women's Super League and a number of community teams.

"So, ultimately we get a really good picture of the load and exposure rugby league players are exposed to."

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Professor Ben Jones spoke to Sky Sports News last year about the research being done into head impacts in rugby league

The RFL has already taken steps to strengthen its disciplinary procedures in an effect to reduce contact with the head ahead of the 2022 season, firming up the sanctioning guidelines for late tackles.

Any deliberate act of foul play, specifically punching, kicking or headbutting, which results in contact with the head will now be determined a Grade D offence - carrying with it a three to five-match suspension - too.

Outside of the disciplinary process, changes have been made to the graduated return to play protocol which players must undergo after suffering a concussion, with the recovery period now extended to a minimum of 11 days.

"As the science evolves and knowledge becomes better, the reality is the sport has to adapt," said Robert Hicks, who is now the RFL's director of operations and legal after stepping down from the full-time match officials panel.

As the science evolves and knowledge becomes better, the reality is the sport has to adapt.

RFL head of operations and legal Robert Hicks

"The first thing we have done is the extension of the graduated return to play for players who suffered a first concussion. That will now extend to an 11-day return to play so players can only play, assuming they pass every stage first time, on the 11th day.

"It's also something the NRL are doing, and it brings us into line with rugby union. That's a significant step forward to look after player welfare which has got to be our primary concern whenever we look at trying to regulate the sport."

The data collected from the instrumented mouthguards being worn by players will help inform more than just head injuries though, as Gallagher Premiership rugby union clubs Harlequins and Gloucester found out when they started using them.

Specifically, that will help the RFL and Super League tailor guidance around the physical and psychological loads players deal with and Jones is in no doubt the welfare benefits will be apparent for players at all levels of rugby league.

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Former Leeds Rhinos captain Stevie Ward says his documentary about the battle with persistent post-concussion syndrome has helped

"This project then feeds into some of our other work we're looking at as a sport which is player load," Jones said. "World Rugby and other sports have implemented player load guidance and we're doing this at the moment.

"The important thing about player load is that it's an umbrella term which sits across everything, so contact training, psychological load, travelling and sleep, so we're doing a big piece of work to make sure we adopt an evidence-based approach.

"The load will be evaluated for full-time professional, part-time professional, age grade and women players. Ultimately, while there will be some similarities, there will be specific things we need to consider.

"That's our evidence-based approach to make sure we have the information to make the right decisions and make sure we ultimately enhance player welfare and continue to support players across the game."

Sky Sports will again be broadcasting extensive live coverage of the Betfred Super League in 2022, including 25 games between February and April, Magic Weekend and the Grand Final. Watch reigning champions St Helens and Catalans Dragons face off in a rematch of last year's Grand Final in the season opener on Thursday, February 10.