Nick Draper: Canterbury University Professor on their new protective headgear for junior rugby players

New game-changing headgear has been developed to protect junior rugby players. 

After more than a decade of study into the causes and consequences of head collisions by rugby players, Canterbury University researchers have developed new soft shell protective headgear for juniors. 

It could be on sale early next year.   

Professor Nick Draper told Mike Hosking that all the money they generate from sales will be reinvested into research. 

He says their focus is on how they can make the game safer for young people.  

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
We've got new head gear aimed at boosting junior rugby safety.
This is the University of Canterbury. They've developed a soft
shell design that offers better impact absorption. Prototypes undergone extensive testing,
Plans to expand into the US secure licensing with World Rugby.
Nick Draper's the professor at the University of Canterbury Faculty
of Health and as well as Nick Morning, Good morning.

(00:20):
There's been an exciting journey for you.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Yeah, it has. It's been a ten year journey, but
we're getting really close to having a finished product now.

Speaker 1 (00:28):
With a view to it being commercially successful. Or is
this an esoteric project that sort of came to life
and took on a journey of its own.

Speaker 2 (00:36):
Sure, so, I guess this started sort of ten years
ago and a conversation. I had an idea around a
material that might help to sort of reduce impacts because
I'm a parent of three boys that play rugby, and
I looked at it and spoke to Keith Alexander, who's
a professor of engineering at UC and he and I
sort of had this back and forth conversation. Eventually decided

(00:57):
we needed to measure the inclusion in Rugby first and
it kind of started from there and then that's been
a you know, so the journey of testing materials and
understanding collisions more clearly as we've gone through the research
and we're now at a stage where we've got to
finish product. The aim of this is to put it
onto the market, but all of the money that we

(01:19):
generate from sales will be reinvested into the research because
our focus is on how we can make the game
safer for young people.

Speaker 1 (01:25):
What are you up against product wise? What's out there?

Speaker 2 (01:29):
Well, there's a range of products. There's a standard headgear
that you see nowadays, which was approved under sort of
regulation twelve of the rules around sort of equipment, and
then there's a new Wild Rugby launched in twenty nineteen,
a new sort of law for trial which allows headgear
to be developed as a medical device and that's where
we would fit into that category. And we're using in

(01:52):
that stace, we're using materials that will absorb some of
those impacts in the collisions.

Speaker 1 (01:58):
Is it a bit of product.

Speaker 2 (02:00):
We think we've tested it and it's as good as
all better than any any product product on the market.
Intesting what the research has been about.

Speaker 1 (02:08):
What's the market say, I mean, do people want to
buy the stuff if it's there? I mean do players go, yep,
I'm going to protect myself. Where you've still got a
hurdle there and convincing.

Speaker 2 (02:16):
People, Well, that's it's a really interesting question. I think
if you look at the professional game, you've see an
increasing number of players that are wearing head gift. So
I think there's a concern and I think there's a
demand there. But the narrative is quite confused at the
moment because the sort of main thing that you hear
is that hegg you won't stop a concussion, and I
think we need to change that narrative to one of

(02:38):
actually not thinking about stopping concussions, but reducing the impact
load over through a game, across the season, and through
a career for players, and that's where those impact reducing
materials can be beneficial.

Speaker 1 (02:51):
Fantastic, Nick, I wish you were with the journey. Nick Draper,
who's professor at the University of Canterbury Faculty of Health,
I was watching you see a little bit in the
NFL these days, they very cleverly disguised an increasing number
of players. Yes, they wear helmets, but they wear helmets
on top of helmets, so it's sort of visually borders
on looking slightly odd by the time you get to

(03:11):
that part. But it's a major issue in the NFL,
of course, in these class actions left right and center,
so it's a big talking point. Yesterday Dallas, Dallas were
at their very best. I say that loosely because this
was Monday night football. Dallas were at their very best,
but they were playing Las Vegas and Las Vegas. I reckon,
I reckon, I could beat Las Vegas, honestly, and I'm
just meet by myself, that's how bad they are. And

(03:32):
they were pretty bad. So Dallas looked perhaps a little
bit better than they normally are. But nevertheless, as they say,
a win is a win. And one of my heroes
in the game's guy called Pete Carroll, who used to
be the coach at Seattle and he's now in Las Vegas,
and I'm looking I'm saying, Pete, honestly, do you need this?
Have you got a plan to turn this thing around?

Speaker 2 (03:48):
Or not.

Speaker 1 (03:49):
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