'Little decisions could change your future': Canberra Raiders prop Joe Tapine weighs in on NRL HIA debate

"A grand final would be freaking pretty tough to take, especially when you feel like you haven't really been knocked," Tapine said.

Imagine the fireworks from players, coaches and fans alike if the player in question was cleared of a concussion, but his team fell short of lifting the bronze trophy depicting those two iconic rugby league gladiators.

Yet is the risk of staying on the field really greater than the reward?

On that, Tapine offers this: "little decisions like that could potentially change your future".

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"It's hard, sometimes you can get a little knock and because we're such competitive people, we don't want to go off. It's a hard one because they're obviously trying to look at our future away from footy," Tapine said.

"When you're playing footy in the moment, everything is just focused on that game, but those little decisions like that could potentially change your future.

"I know where the frustration comes from because when you don't really feel like you've been knocked, and you get pulled, it is frustrating. At the end of the day, they're trying to look after the player."

Independent doctors add an extra layer of protection to save players from themselves in a results-driven business - but to suggest a club doctor would not do the same is a serious knock to their integrity.

Do wins mean so much that a club doctor would willingly cheat the system and send a player onto the field despite showing signs of concussion?

NRL head of football Graham Annesley has turned the blowtorch back on NRL clubs after a chorus of coaches criticised independent doctors for being too conservative in ordering players to undergo concussion checks.

Raiders coach Ricky Stuart, Dolphins mentor Wayne Bennett, Canterbury's Cameron Ciraldo and Newcastle's Adam O'Brien all weighed in on the divisive topic during round one of the NRL season.

It started with the Knights, who lost mercurial five-eighth Kalyn Ponga with the game hanging in the balance against the New Zealand Warriors inside the final 12 minutes. The difference at the time was just two points.

A day later, Stuart voiced his frustration after fullback Seb Kris was sent for a test in the second half of Canberra's 19-18 defeat to the Cowboys, with the Raiders coach questioning why the NRL wouldn't trust a club doctor to have a player's health as their main concern.

The NRL is refusing to take a backward step on their policy, doing all they can to mitigate risks as officials learn more about the ongoing effects of concussions and chronic traumatic encephalopathy [CTE].

But coaches question the need for independent doctors, who monitor a multitude of television angles for signs of concussion and can inform the on-field referee to halt play and send a player off for a Head Injury Assessment.

Tapine says HIA protocols are "a work in progress", and the fact so many coaches agree - and among them are some who traditionally don't see eye to eye - suggests the NRL is yet to find a perfect solution.

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