Syd Uni sports clinic
24-08-2006, 11:47 AM
Hugh Hazard hardly ever uses needles, but most clubs in the NRL probably do.
See below:
Hazard warns against needles dependence
By Todd Balym
August 23, 2006 RUGBY league players should not rely on painkilling injections to play football, at least until the season finale, Australia team doctor team doctor Hugh Hazard said today.
Hazard, also the Bulldogs team doctor, said he rarely gave local anaesthetic painkilling injections, partly because players could both begin to depend on them to get through games and neglect their injury rehabilitation.
Teenage Newcastle halfback Jarrod Mullen last week required 12 needles for a sternum injury to play through the Knights' win against North Queensland.
Knights team doctor Peter McGeoch confirmed the use of the anaesthetic, saying there was no risk of further significant injury to Mullen and he expected the sternum problem would settle down in the off-season.
Hazard wouldn't comment on Mullen's situation, but he said he was reluctant to use painkilling injections.
"I could count on my fingers on one hand how many I have used at the Bulldogs and Australian team," Hazard said.
"It's rare even for me to ever use them.
"Only in very limited situations like a grand final or end of year when you have a long recovery.
"A doctor must make sure they're not putting the player at risk of further injury or cause further damage by the procedure.
"Players may become attached to it and not follow rehab if they can turn up the next weekend and get an injection for it.
"I avoid them (painkilling injections) the plague."
The use of painkilling injections has caused controversy in the AFL this season, with some people claims such jabs are performance-enhancing even though legal.
That view not shared by former rugby league Test captain Brad Fittler, who saw Mullen's effort in playing with the aid of needles as a badge of courage.
"If that ain't a sign of courage or sacrifice to play for the team," Fittler said about Mullen on the website program NRL Deluxe.
"Look at how (Mullen) played, outstanding.
Fittler also revealed some of his personal own experiences with painkilling injections.
"I played with and went through an era when we put up with that sort of stuff," he said.
"It's a numbing agent.
"It's not a hypo or (something) to get your adrenalin going, it's a numbing agent.
"I don't think painkillers actually make you feel better than if you were unhampered by injury.
"They don't work 100 per cent, they take the ouch off it.
"While it is legal, game on."
Hazard warned of the side-effects associated with painkilling injections, a fact of which Fittler is only too aware after an experience when playing Brisbane in a semi-final.
"I had a stack of needles in (for a rib cartilage injury) before the game and I looked at the doctor and I said, 'am I alright', and he said, 'no you look a bit ordinary'," Fittler said.
"I actually nearly fainted... too many needles... but it was fun.
"It's good to test your body like that.
"I went on and got flogged by 40 points and they bashed me."
AAP
See below:
Hazard warns against needles dependence
By Todd Balym
August 23, 2006 RUGBY league players should not rely on painkilling injections to play football, at least until the season finale, Australia team doctor team doctor Hugh Hazard said today.
Hazard, also the Bulldogs team doctor, said he rarely gave local anaesthetic painkilling injections, partly because players could both begin to depend on them to get through games and neglect their injury rehabilitation.
Teenage Newcastle halfback Jarrod Mullen last week required 12 needles for a sternum injury to play through the Knights' win against North Queensland.
Knights team doctor Peter McGeoch confirmed the use of the anaesthetic, saying there was no risk of further significant injury to Mullen and he expected the sternum problem would settle down in the off-season.
Hazard wouldn't comment on Mullen's situation, but he said he was reluctant to use painkilling injections.
"I could count on my fingers on one hand how many I have used at the Bulldogs and Australian team," Hazard said.
"It's rare even for me to ever use them.
"Only in very limited situations like a grand final or end of year when you have a long recovery.
"A doctor must make sure they're not putting the player at risk of further injury or cause further damage by the procedure.
"Players may become attached to it and not follow rehab if they can turn up the next weekend and get an injection for it.
"I avoid them (painkilling injections) the plague."
The use of painkilling injections has caused controversy in the AFL this season, with some people claims such jabs are performance-enhancing even though legal.
That view not shared by former rugby league Test captain Brad Fittler, who saw Mullen's effort in playing with the aid of needles as a badge of courage.
"If that ain't a sign of courage or sacrifice to play for the team," Fittler said about Mullen on the website program NRL Deluxe.
"Look at how (Mullen) played, outstanding.
Fittler also revealed some of his personal own experiences with painkilling injections.
"I played with and went through an era when we put up with that sort of stuff," he said.
"It's a numbing agent.
"It's not a hypo or (something) to get your adrenalin going, it's a numbing agent.
"I don't think painkillers actually make you feel better than if you were unhampered by injury.
"They don't work 100 per cent, they take the ouch off it.
"While it is legal, game on."
Hazard warned of the side-effects associated with painkilling injections, a fact of which Fittler is only too aware after an experience when playing Brisbane in a semi-final.
"I had a stack of needles in (for a rib cartilage injury) before the game and I looked at the doctor and I said, 'am I alright', and he said, 'no you look a bit ordinary'," Fittler said.
"I actually nearly fainted... too many needles... but it was fun.
"It's good to test your body like that.
"I went on and got flogged by 40 points and they bashed me."
AAP