Knights hooker Jayden Brailey has backed the NRL's new concussion stand-down policy, admitting he felt like he needed the now mandatory 11-day break from play after a recent head-knock.
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Brailey suffered a concussion against Wests Tigers in round two, ruled out of the game following a head-knock in the 13th minute.
The Knights co-captain said he was "in the horrors" last week not being able to take on the Dolphins in Newcastle's first home game of the year, but thought the week off was beneficial.
"It's actually my first real concussion I've had in the NRL," he said.
"It was a bit of a new territory that I haven't been in before, but I'm feeling a lot better this week and excited to get back out there."
Last Wednesday, the NRL announced changes to its head injury protocols, crucially introducing a mandatory 11-day stand-down period following a diagnosed concussion.
The new rule, which applies to concussions sustained at both at training and during games, didn't take effect until round three, but Brailey's category-one concussion ruled him out of Friday's match due to the short five-day turnaround.
He will have had a fortnight break from playing by the time he runs out to face Canberra at McDonald Jones Stadium on Sunday. Asked if he felt like he needed an 11-day break, Brailey said: "Yeah, I think I did."
"I think it's a really good initiative from the NRL in terms of looking after the players. Head-knocks are a big grey area. It's not like a muscle or a bone where it's black and white and you know the exact amount of time frame you have until you're back playing," he said.
"I think this 11-day period make it as objective and as black and white as possible."
Brailey's comments on the protocol changes come as the immediate playing future of fellow co-captain Kalyn Ponga remains up in the air.
Ponga suffered his fourth concussion in 10 months in the same game Brailey was concussed in, knocked senseless attempting to make a tackle on a Tigers forward.
The Knights are yet to give an update on Ponga's expected return but are understood to have sought opinions from multiple medical experts.
Ponga's absence leaves Tyson Gamble at five-eighth again this week, part of a spine that includes Brailey, halfback Jackson Hastings and fullback Lachlan Miller.
Asked if the team was focused on developing that spine moving forward, rather worrying about Ponga's return, Brailey said they were taking it a game at a time.
"It's a week to week sort of thing I guess," he said.
"We're not putting any pressure on Kalyn. We want him to prioritise his health. Whatever it may be when he comes back, it is what it is."
He added of the spine that will face Canberra: "We've done a lot of training there together in the pre-season, and we've built a good combination there and I'm just really excited to be able to enhance that on the weekend."
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