The lawyer representing a group of former New Zealand rugby players is backing calls for New Zealand Rugby (NZR) to provide financial support to past players suffering from brain injuries.
Wellington lawyer Tim Castle. Photo: Andrew Cornaga/Photosport
Landmark legal action is being taken in the UK on behalf of eight former England and Wales players who claim their cognitive issues are a direct result of their time in the sport.
In the wake of the action being revealed, the wife of former All Black Geoff Old, Irene Gottlieb-Old, has urged NZR to set up a "special fund'' to assist players debilitated by head injuries.
If established, the fund would not be the first of its kind in sport, with American football's NFL settling a case in 2015 expected to eventually amount to around $1.5 billion in payouts to players.
Wellington barrister Tim Castle is representing several New Zealand players who have indicated they will join or support the action in the UK.
Castle was clear as to how NZR should respond to Gottlieb-Old's proposal.
"I'm hoping they hear her request or her plea, and very loudly," he told RNZ's Nine to Noon on Tuesday.
"I'm hoping that they will respond to that in exactly the way she proposes."
Shortly after Castle's interview went to air, NZR released a statement from Robinson saying "the questions of whether, to what level and to whom financial and/or other support should be provided involves a complex mix of legal, scientific and medical considerations".
Robinson added their focus, for now, was to support former players accessing support through the New Zealand health system, which was "better placed and resourced to support them".
Despite his support for the proposed fund, Castle said financial compensation was not the focus of his primary client supporting the pending legal action in the UK.
Neemia Tialata on the charge for the All Blacks against Wales in 2010. Photo: Photosport
Former All Black prop Neemia Tialata's motivation was different, Castle said.
"For him, there's much less of a focus on what might or might not be the motives of others financially.
"This is about recognising circumstances of the past from which players have suffered when, subject to investigation, inadequate protocols to manage head injuries were in place and then to determine what should have been in place...
"This is about understanding the past in order to better protect the future. It is about what do we know now that can be used to make players of the future safe."
Castle felt there was a clear way forward in that process.
He said the new and detailed head injury assessment protocols introduced by World Rugby in 2015 were central to the solution.
"First of all, the introduction of those protocols, what do they tell us about the absence of them before 2015.
"What does the information that's available for the period up to 2015 tell us about the adequacy or an inadequacy of tools to manage that issue.
"Secondly, we're five years on. Who is collating that material? What does it reveal as to the success of the protocols now operating? What is it we can learn to ensure those who play the game now and in the future are being fully protected so that they're safe...
"It's the fact [the current protocols are] detailed that should reveal for us now the value of them."
Castle was urging New Zealand Rugby to make what they knew about concussion public.
"Provide us with information that demonstrates the value of the protocols that have been in place for the last five years, and what the information that they have reveals, to provide levels of comfort for current players and future players that the information that is available is being not only well used, but can lead to even greater protections."