We live in a part of the world where rugby and rugby league rule. Two sports where you have pretty intense collisions between grown men at the peak of their physical condition, who are faster, stronger and bigger than ever ... and who don't wear helmets. Both sports have taken steps to protect their players and both codes are safer than they have ever been, I mean rugby league even banned the thing that drew a lot of people to the game - the shoulder charge. Accidents still happen and concussions will still happen. It's a fact of life and in this part of the world we're a few steps behind, which isn't a bad thing.

The concussion issue has become a trendy one. Players are coming out of the wood work, writing for newspapers etc telling their story about concussion which is cool. The only people who can encourage players to be honest with themselves and accept that perhaps they shouldn't run out with their team mates next week or even that their career may be over, are players who have gone through it themselves.

You can make as many concussion rules and regulations as you want, there's still a conflict of interest from all parties involved. The governing bodies want to look like they care for their players, the welfare of their players is the most important thing, but they also want the most entertaining product available to make that cash. The clubs want to win games, it's all fine and dandy to keep a player off after being concussed in a regular game ... but what happens when it's Cameron Smith or Richie McCaw in a final? We've already seen teams in the NRL make a mockery of the rules and we're not even halfway through the season. Then you have the players. No matter how lovely we try to be and believe that we live in a world where stereotypes and perceptions don't exist, they do. Men still apparently have to be tough, it's ok to share your journey once you've retired but how would it look if you said you don't want to return to the field? There are many people who would still see that as weak, you'd send that 'you're not doing everything for your team' message to your team mates who are in the trenches. Guys play on with broken jaws, guys return within a few months from dislocated hips - it's a tough guy's sport.

There is no simple answer. It's an extremely complicated issue and I'm not here to defend either side of the argument. I mean I love these sports, these guys do everything I could never do. The best thing we can do is look to the NFL. That situation is much more crazy than anything we have in New Zealand or Australia, former players have taken their own lives in the name of research. Taking their own life in a way that the brain remains in tact, so that doctors can get the full story of how their sporting career impacted that thing between their ears. The full story is something that the NFL does NOT want you, I or anyone else to know because they are afraid that it will influence the millions if not billions of dollars they make.

We're lucky.

We're lucky because we get to watch, learn and act from what is happening between the NFL and it's former players. They are much further down the line than we are in this part of the world, with the suicides and the legal action. There are two clear sides - the NFL who want to protect their financials as well as kind of appearing to ensure the safety of its players, well let's be honest it's the players who make the NFL money, but they have to do so in the most entertaining, dramatic way possible to get audiences and TV dollars involved. Then there's the players. They are getting more educated about the dangers of concussion and the current players have the benefit of former players who want a change.

You also have to remember that the NFL cares so much about the players that they want to expand the season.

So let's take note of how this happens. There should be group of people appointed - a combination of players, former players, officials, parents and doctors from both rugby and rugby league taking notes on how everything is going down in the United States. Either that or we end up going through what they are going through.

Enjoying a few more years of what we have now and then encountering legal battles and all round drama vs learning from those who are already knee deep in the dramas.

If people are too naive to think that the situations are world apart and nothing happens, they deserve to have to deal with the consequences. I fully understand that the rules are different, I mean I'm the leader of the 'NFL players need to learn how to tackle good' camp but the fact is that concussions happen regularly in all three sports. The masculine complex is there in all three sports, the clear evidence of pain and suffering in later life from concussion is in all three sports and the vested interests are in all three sports (player safety + $$).

We're at a crossroads. We can either keep hearing stories from former players, congratulating them for their honesty, hi 5's all round but not really doing anything until shit hits the fan ... or the initiative can be taken - apply a bit of foresight, take note of what is happening in pretty brutal sport and apply it to our needs in rugby and rugby league.

The experiment is basically happening before our eyes, will the NFL and the players/former players find some sort of common ground where rules are adjusted for player safety and compensation/better services for those suffering the repercussions of concussion? Or will it just get worse.

Rugby and rugby league players can take note of what the NFL players are doing, the action they are taking for their welfare. The governing bodies (NRL, etc.) can take note of how the NFL is handling this situation ... if the NFL does a terrible job, then learn and do differently and if the NFL does a good job where common ground is found, just do something similar.

If we're too blind to this and don't learn, take action and adapt, well then I guess we're all pretty dumb.