sport, raiders, nrl, cte, nrl concussion, jordan rapana, canberra raiders, andrew johns, nrl cte, nfl cte

Canberra Raiders winger Jordan Rapana has backed the NRL's concussion protocols, adamant the governing body is "finally taking it seriously" as the spotlight intensifies. Rapana has had to plug a handful of nose bleeds over the past few days after a swinging arm from Peni Terepo busted his snout and saw him taken from the field for a head injury assessment. But the 29-year-old says "she's alright" now after what many dubbed a blatant swinging arm kept him off the field for 15 minutes in Canberra's round 15 loss to Parramatta. The Raiders flyer was desperate to return to the field but medical officials gave him no choice, however he is free to play against St George Illawarra in Wollongong on Sunday. "You don't really have much of a say, the doctor pulls you straight off and it doesn't matter how much you want to stay on the field. They're pretty strict on it," Rapana said. "It's good for the game. When it comes to injuries with anything to do with the head, it's serious. "I'm glad they've got the HIA rule and they take these things seriously, because any injury to the head is a serious thing. I'm glad they're finally taking it seriously. MORE RAIDERS NEWS "They're pretty good with it, even when I went off with my hit to the nose, I wasn't knocked out or anything like that, just a blood nose. "I just tried to get to get back on the field but they were like 'no, you've got to wait'. They're very cautious with it and they're doing a great job." Concerns about concussions in rugby league have reached an all-time high after three legal firms announced plans to launch class actions against the NRL over the handling of head knocks. It comes after two former rugby league players, each of whom had played more than 150 first grade games, were found to have suffered from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. The NFL has already paid out more than $US500 million under the sport's concussion settlement with the figure expected to eventually reach $1 billion. There is no suggestion the NRL attempted to cover up or discredit research on repeated head injuries as was the case in the NFL, with any legal action likely to focus on whether treatment of head knocks has been timely and appropriate. Rugby league Immortal Andrew Johns will steer clear of joining any class action against the NRL. He has been diagnosed with frontal lobe epilepsy following two severe seizures which specialists "think maybe, maybe, maybe were caused by some concussions", but Johns says he played rugby league knowing there are ramifications on his health. NRL ROUND 17 Sunday: St George Illawarra Dragons v Canberra Raiders at Wollongong, 6.10pm.

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