Green v Country Rugby Football League of NSW Inc

In the case of Green v Country Rugby Football League of NSW Inc, the plaintiff, a sixteen-year-old rugby league player, suffered a catastrophic injury leading to tetraplegia during a scrum collapse. The dispute centred around the alleged negligence of the Country Rugby Football League of New South Wales Inc, which administered the sport in the relevant region. The court was tasked with determining whether the League was liable for failing to implement various safety measures, including requiring medical examinations, providing adequate warnings, disseminating information about the risks associated with certain player characteristics and positions, and preventing players with specific physical attributes from playing in certain positions.

The legal issues before the court involved whether the League had a duty of care towards the plaintiff and whether this duty extended to requiring medical examinations, providing warnings, and disseminating information about neck-strengthening exercises. The court also considered whether the League should have de-powered contested scrums earlier and whether it had a duty to instruct referees to do so. Furthermore, the court examined whether the League had a non-delegable duty of care, whether it should have changed the rules of rugby league, and whether it ought to have allowed teams to participate only if their coaches were accredited.

The court concluded that the League did not owe the plaintiff a non-delegable duty of care and that it had not failed to disseminate information or require medical examinations. However, the court found that the League had a common law duty to warn the plaintiff or his parents of the risks associated with spinal injury in rugby league games. The League was held liable for failing to adequately warn players of the risks inherent in their positions and for not implementing measures to reduce the risk of injury, such as de-powering contested scrums. The court ordered the League to pay damages to the plaintiff.