It's why, after four head knocks, Jason Brown had no hesitation in taking the doctor's advice to draw the curtain on his season.

The 27-year-old was one of three Gungahlin Bulls who were concussed and couldn't finish the game against Woden Valley two weeks ago.

He also broke his nose and fractured his eye socket in that head clash, but it was the repeated head knocks that have stopped him from playing again this year.

It's something the Bulls treat very seriously, as does the Canberra Raiders Cup, and it's why he won't run out against the Queanbeyan Blues at Seiffert Oval on Saturday.

The diagnosis of two former NRL players with chronic traumatic encephalopathy has meant concussion's become a hot topic.

CTE's a brain condition that can only be diagnosed after death and is caused by repeated blows to the head.

Symptoms include depression, mood swings, short-term memory loss and dementia.

It was against the Blues eight weeks ago when Brown suffered his first concussion of the year and he's just kept getting them ever since.

Given he's got a nine-year-old daughter, Kourtney, and a three-year-old son, Kade, he's not willing to take any risks when it comes to his head.

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He kind of needs it. And it's not like he's earning "$1 million per week" to play.

Being able to play with his kids is another source of motivation for Brown to follow the doctor's orders.

"I've had four head knocks this season so the doctor ruled me out," he said.

"It's just something I've got to keep an eye on. I'm not an NRL player so I kind of need my brain after footy.

"It's not the be all and end all, there's still life after footy and I've got a young family so I don't want to do anything where I have memory loss or anything like that.

"I've just got to keep an eye on it this season and see what they say at the end of the year and go from there.

"I could go out and knock my head again and that might be the last time."

While you hear horror stories about people who can't leave the house for weeks on end because they can't handle sunlight, Brown hasn't experienced anything that extreme.

Dizziness and headaches have been the main things he's struggled with, although he's found his symptoms ease since he's stopped training and playing.

"Just dizziness, headaches ... and I'd have to pause for a minute - not that I was going to blackout or faint, but it's like when you bend over and get up too fast and you've just got to compose yourself for a minute and then you're all right," Brown said.

"Headaches, even two days onwards, but that's obviously slowed down because I haven't trained at all and I'm obviously not playing."

The forward has had a few concussions in the past, but nothing like the spate of head knocks he's had this year.

He said he's "too young to hang up the boots", but he'll let the doctors decide whether he plays next year.

Despite the setback, Brown's remained involved in the game.

"I'm trying to get into coaching. I'm helping the 15s out, so I'm still involved with the Bulls and helping them out where I can," he said.

"I've just got to make the most of it."

Brown's happy for his son Kade to play and was confident the game was doing all it could to make it as safe as possible.

At the end of the day, it's a contact sport and there's always going to be an element of risk.

"They're doing all they can on their part to make sure player safety is their main priority," Brown said.

"At the end of the day the player's got to come first. You can't put a price on a player and their head assessment.

"You've got to trust what the doctors say."

Canberra Raiders Cup general manager Mark Vergano said rugby league is the safest it's ever been.

Concussion protocols have been introduced at every level of the game and there's been a push on removing head-high tackles.

Vergano said they'd brought all the trainers from all the clubs together as a group to ensure everyone was on the same page and best practice was being employed throughout the competition.

He said there were trained personnel at every game - from the juniors all the way through to the seniors.

Those personnel have to be accredited through Sports Medicine Australia and keep that accreditation up to date.

Facing similar concerns, rugby union has introduced a blue card for concussions which prevent a player from returning to the game and they have to get medical clearance before they can play again.

Vergano said all the football codes were aware of the responsibility they had to ensure the safety of their players.

Headgear isn't compulsory at any level because they don't prevent concussion - with some research suggesting they can even increase the chances of it occurring.

"Is it at its safest? Yes. Are we always looking to get better? Yep and we're always trying to ensure the safety and duty of care for our players," Vergano said.

"We've brought our trainers in as a cohort to get them all on the same page in the handling of concussion.

"It is a current topic. We're a collision sport. The big thing is we've got trained personnel on the sideline at every game, every weekend.

"It doesn't matter if it's a junior team through to the first grade we've got trained personnel on the sideline.

"We ask them to monitor the re-entry of players that sit out with concussion and they follow the return-to-play policy as well."

CANBERRA RAIDERS CUP ROUND 13

Saturday: Yass Magpies v Belconnen United Sharks at Yass, 2pm; Woden Valley Rams v Tuggeranong Bushrangers at Phillip, 3pm; Queanbeyan Blues v Gungahlin Bulls at Seiffert Oval, 3pm.