Can we have it both ways?

We now have the contradictory development of South Sydney being investigated by the NRL over Burgess' alleged concussion but not over him being permitted to play on with a serious facial fracture which could have resulted in blindness.

Rugby league's evolution never goes in a straight line. There are always twists, turns and dead ends.

In 2014, brain injuries are the issue of the moment, largely because of events in American Football regarding a class action by players. In the NRL, shoulder charges have been banned and a concussion assessment rule implemented to address the concerns, despite traditionalists claiming the game is "getting soft".

Conversely, the terrible neck injury to Alex McKinnon led to some interpretation changes among NRL referees but nothing concrete in terms of stamping out the lifting tackle. There was a fear a previous rule change to stop the cannonball tackle may have led to an increase in the practice and another alteration to the game's laws, without proper investigation, could have another unforseen and negative outcome.

Penrith coach Ivan Cleary commented during the season that although things are being cleaned up, "these are still tough men who put up with a lot of pain". He believes halfback Peter Wallace playing on with a serious knee injury played a major role in inspiring his teammates to progress so far in the competition.

If rugby league players stop ignoring painful injuries to continue in matches, what would we be left with? And how might that happen?

There are two powerful factors in determining what is acceptable and what isn't: community standards and legal action.

Community standards are at the point that someone staggering with concussion – once deemed funny and depicted in cartoons with birds circling one's head – is no longer acceptable.

I would argue that community standards currently regard what Sam Burgess did as heroic, not irresponsible. We are not at the point yet where watching someone play on with an injury such as his makes us sick in the stomach.

At some point in the future, we will probably get to that point. For now, the vast majority of people would have preferred Burgess stay out there and do what he did.

Little has been said about an attempted head butt on Burgess in the scrum, probably the only event on Sunday night at ANZ Stadium that did not show the game in a good light.

But changes can be accelerated ahead of community standards by legal action. If a player sues a club for negligence after being allowed to stay on the field with a serious injury, the evolution of the game would be sped up considerably – money talks.

Once we get to that hurdle we will again face the question of whether we want rugby league to be one sport – for participants and spectators – or whether we will have to divide the two for safety reasons.

The punching ban by David Smith clearly demonstrated a determination not to make that split yet.

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COULD South Sydney have "saved" rugby league in Sydney by winning their first premiership in 43 years?

Memories are powerful things and while AFL and soccer are big participant sports in the Bunnies' catchment area, the experience of Souths winning the grand final, and then meeting fans at Redfern Oval the next day, will stick in the minds of a lot of kids for a long time.

Such shared emotion and tradition is difficult for even the deepest war chests of other sports to overcome.

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COMMENTS now and let's go back to last week's column.

Doug and Sir Francis demonstrated the way we consume media these days. Everything is competing for our attention so much that we won't read anything unless we think we know what it's about. The item on Issac Luke explained why you can't have different rules for finals, and then outlined what his defence was likely to be. It did not say what should happen at the judiciary. Because I thought he should be charged, I guess I thought a suspension was justified. But I didn't say that – at any stage.

Knight Vision wanted to know how Brisbane got into the World Club Series. It's easy: they wanted to go and no-one else did. Beggars can't be choosers and the WCS is a beggar at this stage of its development.

Rudy, the guitar woman with drummers was Sarah McLeod of the Superjesus. Gavin, because of the cross promotion with Sony, I don't think as much money changes hands for this entertainment as you think.

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