John Orchard (doctor)

John Orchard
AM
Born
John William Orchard

1967 (age 58–59)
Australia
Education
Medical career
ProfessionSports and exercise physician
Websitejohnorchard.com

John Orchard (born 1967) is an Australian sport and exercise medicine physician, notable for advocating for rule changes in sport to improve player safety. In 2020, he was awarded a Member of the Order of the Order of Australia for significant service to sports medicine, particularly cricket.[1] He was a member of the Australian government advisory group for sport responding to COVID, representing professional sport as the Chief Medical Officer for Cricket Australia[2] and was instrumental in cricket's response to COVID.[3][4][5][6] He worked as the General Medical Officer for Australia at the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.[7] Prior to his medical career, he worked in sports journalism at The Age including writing a computer program for football tipping [8] and computer programming.[9]

Professional sporting teams

He has worked as doctor for the Sydney Swans,[10] Sydney Roosters,[11] NSW State of Origin rugby league team,[12] Sydney Sixers, Cricket NSW and the Australian cricket team.[13]

An incident which led to some infamy was his on-field use of a staple gun to close a head laceration sustained by Michael De Vere during a rugby league State of Origin match .[14][15][16][17]

He also was the doctor on the field who responded to Phillip Hughes when he was felled by a cricket ball during a match in 2014,[18] an injury from which the player later died.

Injury prevention advocacy

Australian Football League

He spent over 20 years as the injury surveillance coordinator for the AFL.[19][20] During this time injury surveillance drove many rules changes in the league[21] including the centre-circle line (which reduced the rate of knee posterior cruciate ligament injuries in ruckmen)[22] and reductions in permitted interchange to prevent muscle strains.[23]

John Orchard (doctor)

National Rugby League

As Sydney Roosters doctor, he was outspoken on the need to ban the shoulder charge tackle in the NRL prior to this occurring.[24]

Cricket

He campaigned for the introduction of substitutes in general[25][26][27] and particularly for concussion in cricket[28][29] and was the doctor at an Australian domestic game when this rule was first used in 2016.[30][31] He was cited as having been a key driver of change when the International Cricket Council introduced Concussion substitutes in 2019,[32][33] along with conducting research in general regarding concussion in cricket.[34][35]

He also had a role in cricket making a boundary rope compulsory after reporting on injuries caused by fence collisions,[36] and was involved in better management of stress fractures in fast bowlers during the 2010s.[37] He assisted with treatment of Nic Maddinson when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer.[38][39][40]

Research

He is an academic (Adjunct Professor) at the University of Sydney[41] and has published over 300 research papers with over 20000 citations,[42] with high output of research into cricket injuries.[43][44] He is a co-author on multiple International Olympic Committee consensus expert statements on preventing injuries in sport.[45][46][47][48] He has campaigned for funding to better match evidence in the management of musculoskeletal injuries.[49][50]

Orchard Sports Injury and Illness Classification System (OSIICS)

John Orchard developed a sports injury classification system in 1993 called OSICS. It has been used by multiple sports in Australia,[51] Europe[52] and the USA.[53] In 2020, it was expanded to include further illness codes, and adopted as one of two recommended systems by the International Olympic Committee.[54]

References

  1. ↑ "Dr John William ORCHARD". Australian Honours Search Facility. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
  2. ↑ Australian Government Department of Health (30 May 2020). "COVID-19 Sports and Health Advisory Committee (C19SHAC)". Australian Government Department of Health. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  3. ↑ Wu, Andrew (21 August 2020). "How Cricket Australia got the show back on the road". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  4. ↑ "CA medicos map path out of COVID-19 shutdown". cricket.com.au. AAP. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  5. ↑ Bull, Andy (6 October 2021). "Players' stand over Ashes shows shift in attitudes since Marcus Trescothick's day". the Guardian. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  6. ↑ Snape, Jack (22 November 2021). "New age of the asterisk? Integrity of elite sport under pressure as pandemic goalposts shift". ABC News. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  7. ↑ "Preparation, performance and physiotherapy: Women's World Cup series". events.sma.org.au. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  8. ↑ Cherny, Daniel (15 November 2014). "Pssst: How John Orchard went from footy diehard to become cricket's top doctor". The Age.
  9. ↑ "Survival". IFDB. Interactive fiction database. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  10. ↑ "Cresswell 'bravest of all'". afl.com.au. 13 May 2009. Retrieved 13 July 2010.
  11. ↑ "Senior Club Office Holders". Sydney Roosters History. Retrieved 11 July 2026.
  12. ↑ "John Orchard". British Journal of Sports Medicine. 41 (4): 199. 2007. doi:10.1136/bjsm.2006.032235. ISSN 0306-3674. PMC 2658944.
  13. ↑ "Cricket NSW congratulates Australia Day Honours recipients". Cricket NSW. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  14. ↑ "WATCH: Joey recalls staple gun incident". wwos.nine.com.au.
  15. ↑ "State of Origin: Michael De Vere stapler, Des Hasler link". Fox Sports. 31 May 2017.
  16. ↑ "Money and the gun: Blues stick to staple diet". The Sydney Morning Herald. 19 June 2003. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  17. ↑ "Dr John Orchard on the "metal staples - no local anaesthesia" - discussion. Guest Blog". BJSM blog - social media's leading SEM voice. 18 August 2012.
  18. ↑ Webster, Andrew (26 November 2014). "John Orchard: the man who gave Phillip Hughes a fighting chance". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  19. ↑ Orchard, John W.; Seward, Hugh; Orchard, Jessica J. (April 2013). "Results of 2 decades of injury surveillance and public release of data in the Australian Football League". The American Journal of Sports Medicine. 41 (4): 734–741. doi:10.1177/0363546513476270. ISSN 1552-3365. PMID 23460329. S2CID 45592953.
  20. ↑ Broad, Ben (14 May 2009). "Heavy hitters: Dr John Orchard". www.afl.com.au.
  21. ↑ Orchard, John; McCrory, Paul; Makdissi, Michael; Seward, Hugh; Finch, Caroline (December 2014). "Use of rule changes to reduce injury in the Australian Football League". Minerva Ortopedica e Traumatologica. 65 (6): 355–364. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  22. ↑ Orchard, J. W.; Seward, H. (December 2009). "Decreased incidence of knee posterior cruciate ligament injury in Australian Football League after ruck rule change". British Journal of Sports Medicine. 43 (13): 1026–1030. doi:10.1136/bjsm.2009.063123. ISSN 1473-0480. PMID 19850572. S2CID 21771432.
  23. ↑ Orchard, John W.; Driscoll, Tim; Seward, Hugh; Orchard, Jessica J. (May 2012). "Relationship between interchange usage and risk of hamstring injuries in the Australian Football League". Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. 15 (3): 201–206. doi:10.1016/j.jsams.2011.11.250. ISSN 1878-1861. PMID 22197066.
  24. ↑ Honeysett, Stuart (11 April 2012). "NFL-style class action fear as doctor warns of massive legal hit". www.theaustralian.com.au.
  25. ↑ Orchard, John; Dhillon, Mandeep; Farhart, Patrick; Blanch, Peter; Kountouris, Alex (2012). "Injury data and arguments to support a rule change to allow substitutes in Test and first class cricket" (PDF). Sportsphysio (4): 19–23. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  26. ↑ Cherny, Daniel (8 November 2014). "Cricket Australia medical chief John Orchard calls for subs in Test cricket". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  27. ↑ Malcolm, Alex. "Cricket Australia amends injury sub rule for Sheffield Shield final". espncricinfo. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  28. ↑ "Doctor calls for tighter cricket concussion rules". www.abc.net.au. 28 November 2013.
  29. ↑ Barrett, Chris (7 February 2016). "Ed Cowan concussion a reminder that cricket is living in past with no substitution rule". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  30. ↑ "Hughes blow leads to first concussion sub". cricket.com.au.
  31. ↑ "NSW batsman Daniel Hughes makes history as concussion sub". www.abc.net.au. 21 October 2016.
  32. ↑ Wu, Andrew (19 July 2019). "Historic call: Concussion subs approved for all international cricket". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  33. ↑ Craddock, Robert (9 December 2020). "The biggest selection headache Australia has ever faced". www.couriermail.com.au. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  34. ↑ Brettig, Daniel (13 February 2022). "Pucovski saga's parallel probe into cricket helmet safety". The Age.
  35. ↑ Saw, Anna E; Howard, David J; Kountouris, Alex; McIntosh, Andrew S; Orchard, John W; Saw, Richard; Hill, Thomas (January 2020). "Situational factors associated with concussion in cricket identified from video analysis". Journal of Concussion. 4: 205970022094719. doi:10.1177/2059700220947197. ISSN 2059-7002. S2CID 226452961.
  36. ↑ Orchard, J.; James, T.; Alcott, E.; Carter, S.; Farhart, P. (August 2002). "Injuries in Australian cricket at first class level 1995/1996 to 2000/2001". British Journal of Sports Medicine. 36 (4): 270–274, discussion 275. doi:10.1136/bjsm.36.4.270. ISSN 0306-3674. PMC 1724521. PMID 12145117.
  37. ↑ Olivier, Benita; Orchard, John W. (2025). "Personal Reflections on the Emergence of Cricket Sports Medicine and Lumbar Stress Fracture Management in Australia". Cricket Sports Medicine (1st 2025 ed.). Singapore: Springer Nature. pp. 321–329. doi:10.1007/978-981-96-6321-7_31. ISBN 978-981-96-6321-7.
  38. ↑ Decent, Tom (17 October 2025). "'Imagine I hadn't gone to the doctor': Nic Maddinson's private battle with cancer". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  39. ↑ Malcolm, Alex (17 October 2025). "Maddinson reveals 'daunting' battle with testicular cancer".
  40. ↑ "'Hard to deal with': Former Test star reveals cancer battle, delivers 'important' message". Fox Sports. 17 October 2025.
  41. ↑ "Staff Profile". The University of Sydney.
  42. ↑ "John Orchard AM - Google Scholar". scholar.google.com.au. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  43. ↑ Dhillon, Mandeep S.; Patel, Sandeep; Sharma, Siddhartha (23 August 2023). "Beyond the Boundary: A Bibliometric Analysis of the Published Research on Injuries in Cricket". Indian Journal of Orthopaedics. 57 (10): 1575–1583. doi:10.1007/s43465-023-00973-9. ISSN 1998-3727. PMC 10519880. PMID 37766943.
  44. ↑ Olivier, Benita; Orchard, John (2025). Cricket Sports Medicine (1st 2025 ed.). Singapore: Springer Nature. p. 422. doi:10.1007/978-981-96-6321-7. ISBN 978-981-96-6321-7.
  45. ↑ Soligard, T; Schwellnus, M; Alonso, JM; Bahr, R; Clarsen, B; Dijkstra, HP; Gabbett, T; Gleeson, M; Hägglund, M; Hutchinson, MR; Janse van Rensburg, C; Khan, KM; Meeusen, R; Orchard, JW; Pluim, BM; Raftery, M; Budgett, R; Engebretsen, L (September 2016). "How much is too much? (Part 1) International Olympic Committee consensus statement on load in sport and risk of injury". British Journal of Sports Medicine. 50 (17): 1030–41. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2016-096581. hdl:2263/57024. PMID 27535989.
  46. ↑ Schwellnus, M; Soligard, T; Alonso, JM; Bahr, R; Clarsen, B; Dijkstra, HP; Gabbett, TJ; Gleeson, M; Hägglund, M; Hutchinson, MR; Janse Van Rensburg, C; Meeusen, R; Orchard, JW; Pluim, BM; Raftery, M; Budgett, R; Engebretsen, L (September 2016). "How much is too much? (Part 2) International Olympic Committee consensus statement on load in sport and risk of illness". British Journal of Sports Medicine. 50 (17): 1043–52. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2016-096572. PMC 5013087. PMID 27535991.
  47. ↑ Hainline, B; Derman, W; Vernec, A; Budgett, R; Deie, M; Dvořák, J; Harle, C; Herring, SA; McNamee, M; Meeuwisse, W; Lorimer Moseley, G; Omololu, B; Orchard, J; Pipe, A; Pluim, BM; Ræder, J; Siebert, C; Stewart, M; Stuart, M; Turner, JA; Ware, M; Zideman, D; Engebretsen, L (September 2017). "International Olympic Committee consensus statement on pain management in elite athletes". British Journal of Sports Medicine. 51 (17): 1245–1258. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2017-097884. PMID 28827314.
  48. ↑ Bahr, R; Clarsen, B; Derman, W; Dvorak, J; Emery, CA; Finch, CF; Hägglund, M; Junge, A; Kemp, S; Khan, KM; Marshall, SW; Meeuwisse, W; Mountjoy, M; Orchard, JW; Pluim, B; Quarrie, KL; Reider, B; Schwellnus, M; Soligard, T; Stokes, KA; Timpka, T; Verhagen, E; Bindra, A; Budgett, R; Engebretsen, L; Erdener, U; Chamari, K (April 2020). "International Olympic Committee consensus statement: methods for recording and reporting of epidemiological data on injury and illness in sport 2020 (including STROBE Extension for Sport Injury and Illness Surveillance (STROBE-SIIS))". British Journal of Sports Medicine. 54 (7): 372–389. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2019-101969. PMC 7146946. PMID 32071062.
  49. ↑ Orchard, John W. (1 October 2022). "Knee osteoarthritis in Australia: A 20-year case study of funding-system failure with poor outcomes". JSAMS Plus. 1 100009. doi:10.1016/j.jsampl.2022.100009. ISSN 2772-6967.
  50. ↑ Orchard, J. W. (1 February 2023). "Pay attention to the evidence: in the longer term, intraarticular corticosteroid injections offer only harm for knee osteoarthritis". Osteoarthritis and Cartilage. 31 (2): 142–143. doi:10.1016/j.joca.2022.10.012. ISSN 1063-4584.
  51. ↑ Finch, CF; Orchard, JW; Twomey, DM; Saad Saleem, M; Ekegren, CL; Lloyd, DG; Elliott, BC (April 2014). "Coding OSICS sports injury diagnoses in epidemiological studies: does the background of the coder matter?". British Journal of Sports Medicine. 48 (7): 552–6. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2012-091219. PMC 3963545. PMID 22919021.
  52. ↑ Hammond, LE; Lilley, J; Ribbans, WJ (July 2009). "Coding sports injury surveillance data: has version 10 of the Orchard Sports Injury Classification System improved the classification of sports medicine diagnoses?". British Journal of Sports Medicine. 43 (7): 498–502. doi:10.1136/bjsm.2008.051979. PMID 19050000. S2CID 24330003.
  53. ↑ Crossway, AK; Games, KE; Eberman, LE; Fleming, N (2017). "Orchard Sports Injury Classification System 10.1 Plus: An End-User Study". International Journal of Exercise Science. 10 (2): 284–293. doi:10.70252/NEWP3625. PMC 5360368. PMID 28344740.
  54. ↑ Orchard, JW; Meeuwisse, W; Derman, W; Hägglund, M; Soligard, T; Schwellnus, M; Bahr, R (April 2020). "Sport Medicine Diagnostic Coding System (SMDCS) and the Orchard Sports Injury and Illness Classification System (OSIICS): revised 2020 consensus versions". British Journal of Sports Medicine. 54 (7): 397–401. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2019-101921. hdl:11250/2663641. PMID 32114487. S2CID 211724559.
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