With concussions a hot topic over the first six rounds of the NRL season, The Future League weighs in on the debate with some solutions to the problem.

1. Independent Doctors to Conduct all Concussion Tests During Matches

Why this common sense approach to the concussion issue has not been adopted in the NRL yet is mind boggling. It is the easiest way to remove all doubt that vested interests are clouding a club doctor’s judgement on whether a concussed player can return to the game. If independent doctors were already in place, do you think the media would be looking at the miraculous recovery of Adam Reynolds in round two through the prism of conspiracy?

The NRL introduced its rules on concussion at the start of the 2012 season, and as to why prominent figures in the NRL community are only now starting to campaign for independent doctors four seasons later is nothing short of bemusing.

At the end of the day, Is there even a valid reason why independent doctors have not been introduced in the NRL yet?

2. You knock a player out, you’re off the field too.

Again and again in the NRL fans have seen players suffer concussions off tackles resulting in penalties. Here’s a novel approach for tackles that result in a player being concussed from a penalised tackle: send the perpetrator off the field for the same amount of time as the concussed player.

If the concussed player passes the concussion test and returns to the field, the offending player from the opposing team can return as well. But if a player is concussed to the point where they can’t return, it is only fair that the opposing player misses the rest of the match as well. Because what is not fair is providing an advantage to the team committing a foul.

The introduction of these two rules results in one key element currently lacking in the way the NRL and its clubs deal with players’ concussions: integrity. The introduction of independent doctors removes any perceived conflicts of interest currently in place; removing the perceived disadvantage of one team losing a player for the game from a penalised tackle while the offending player is allowed to remain on the field creates balance and a sense of justice.

But most of all, it brings integrity back into a contentious issue that is sorely in need of it.