Dave Craven: League must learn lessons from the heat of Magic Weekend

Medical specialists are currently ascertaining the exact cause of the 27-year-old’s frightening experience but, thankfully, the Australian is out of hospital after surgery on a blocked artery.

He was taken ill after Sunday’s game at Magic Weekend, initially complaining of a pain in his chest before the squad departed Manchester.

That got worse as the journey progressed, the team bus twice pulling over for the Bradford doctor to fit a drip and supply oxygen before a detour to Huddersfield hospital.

While tests are ongoing – Purtell will not know if he can play again for at least two months – and there is no definitive answer yet, Bulls coach Mick Potter does believe the soaring temperatures may have played a part.

Other players from various clubs did endure problems in the searing heat, complaining of feeling unwell post-match with some vomiting and suffering heat exhaustion.

Watching that Bradford v Leeds game it was clearly noticeable to this columnist that players were already under unfamiliar duress by the interval.

Since coach Daryl Powell introduced the idea almost a decade ago, Rhinos players routinely assemble together before jogging off for half-time.

They resemble a fearless, almost impregnable, Spartan army in the manner they purposefully stride towards the dressing room.

It gives the illusion the 10-minute break is not required, demonstrating to their opponents they are already primed, fit and ready to go into battle once more.

It has the desired effect of raising the atmosphere among fans, who see their warriors so fortified, but also reminds all of the unity among them.

They performed their usual ritual on Sunday but not instantaneously; a raft of players sunk to their haunches as soon as the hooter went, desperately trying to recover breath after a debilitating 40 minutes.

People such as Rob Burrow and Danny McGuire, those lithe and elusive runners who never seem to break sweat, were out on their feet. Bradford counterparts were in the same exhausted state.

The Yorkshire Post asked Potter in the post-match press conference if his squad had mentioned that energy-sapping heat. He confirmed, calling it “extreme conditions” and referred to how Leeds “dropped down on the ground to buy some time and slow the game down a bit. That was their choice.”

Most people in the room, myself included, probably thought it was just a subtle dig at Leeds’s tactics. Maybe it was. But since then – and Purtell’s shock – Potter has conceded their rivals were right to do so, primarily in order to get water in their systems.

He, like many at the Etihad Stadium, was baffled why the players were not allowed water breaks at the mid-point of each half to replenish vital fluids.

A day earlier, in the League One play-off final, Huddersfield Town and Sheffield United were rightly afforded that option in sweltering conditions at Wembley yet there was nothing similar in a far more physical sport.

It appears RFL match commissioner Ian McGregor was not approached by either Bradford or Leeds to facilitate such a break. In future, though, when temperatures reach such heights, it needs to be mandatory that drained players can refuel.

Dehydration may not have been the primary cause of Purtell’s heart attack but, next time, that might not be the case.