Collision sport Run Nation Championship in Sydney sells 5,000 tickets despite head injury concerns

It's the brutal and controversial new contact sport that has concussion experts reeling, but some footy players excited.

Newcastle forward Lochlan Piper is competing at the second edition of the Run Nation Championship (RNC) in Sydney, a competition that turns a rugby league "hit-up" into its own sport.

"It's how I play football, you know … the contact, the energy," Piper said.

The sport has gathered momentum since emerging on social media in 2025.

It is now aiming to go mainstream, with the latest RNC event at the Hordern Pavilion expected to sell out the 5,500-seat venue.

But sports neurologist Rowena Mobbs is calling for the sport to be banned.

"Medical practitioners and the sporting community have become increasingly concerned about concussion, and aware of mild traumatic brain injury as sometimes not being mild and being a devastating part of people's lives," Dr Mobbs said.

Rules and regulations

The premise is simple: two athletes run at each other with the aim of knocking their opponent down, with strict rules about where on the body they can make contact.

"There's no high, like it in my eyes … same as a boxer or a fighter or something like that. It's you against them," Piper said.

Run Nation co-founder and CEO Tremaine Fernandez said, unlike previous "backyard" iterations of the sport, RNC had developed rules to prevent head-on collisions.

"We've manufactured side-on contact, many markers and rules on the field and rules of engagement, and then on top of that, the player vetting process has just been enormous," he said.

"[Front-on contact] was one of the challenges we had with the previous versions … it was a bit ugly.

Dr Mobbs suggested RNC had emerged as a reaction against safety measures brought into professional competitions such as the NRL.

"We've seen appropriate rule changes, and we've seen a reduction in exposure to repetitive head injuries coming to the fore.

Medical presence

'Run It!' and 'Run It Straight', were criticised when a New Zealand teenager died after attempting the sport with friends at the height of the 'Run It Straight' social media challenge trend.

RNC said it had worked closely with Your Brain Health, a network of clinicians providing advice and screening for contact sports.

"If an injury does occur, we've got two doctors on the field who will be assessing what they saw and how to treat that," said Tremaine Fernandez, who was involved in the previous iterations of the sport.

"We've got two NSW paramedics on the field if it's for something more severe.

"We've got a team with neurologists, physios, chiropractors … whatever that injury may be, whether it's just a shoulder, whether it's a sore arm, whether it's a hit to the head, not one stone has been left unturned."

But Dr Mobbs said ultimately the measures would not prevent potentially devastating brain injury from occurring in the first place.

"Certainly every time they run up and clash in that way, there's likely to be at least a microscopic brain injury," she said.

"They are high-risk and harmful activities, and almost having these protocols and practitioners there whilst good overall, I would ask, is it sort of giving an air of reassurance, an illusion or an impression that these activities are safe?

Accepted risk

Jayden Young will be one of the headlining athletes in the event.

He comes from a footballing family, with his brother Hudson playing NRL for the Canberra Raiders.

"Every sport has their pros and cons, it's a contact sport. I'm used to playing rugby league and used to that contact," he said.

"No-one's going into this sport thinking accidents or things can't happen, we're well aware of the sacrifices and the risks we're taking."

RNC organisers told the ABC the athletes are covered under insurance, and workers compensation if they sustain a life-altering injury.

Lochlan Piper said he felt the protocols and selection criteria were more rigorous than what he experienced playing semi-professional rugby league.

"Brain safety is a big thing, obviously with CTE," he said.

"You have to meet certain guidelines and be able to do it correctly, otherwise, you're not only a risk to yourself, but you're a risk to others."

Tremaine Fernandez said one of his key messages to young people watching the sport was simple.

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