Questions asked after head clash

THE AFL will be asking questions of Port Adelaide following the sickening head clash between Power teammates Lachie Jones and Aliir Aliir in Saturday’s showdown loss to Adelaide.

Play was stopped following the second-quarter incident when the teammates connected with each other high in a marking contest, but only Jones went through a head injury assessment.

While Jones passed his test, the heat has been placed on the Power given Aliir wasn’t assessed and continued to play on for the remainder of the game.

Veteran journalist Damian Barrett has said the AFL will be questioning why Aliir wasn’t put through a concussion test.

“There was drama in the game and there was drama coming out of it,” Barrett said on Nine’s Sunday Footy Show.

“This incident where Aliir Aliir clashed heads with Lachie Jones in the second quarter.

“You can see what it did to both players, they were both on the ground for some time.

“Jones was taken off the ground, given a concussion test and was then subbed out of the game with what the club said was a migraine.

“There was no HIA, no concussion test applied to Aliir Aliir.

“The AFL will be asking questions and has been asking questions to the club doctor about why that was the case.”

While Power coach Ken Hinkley bristled at the suggestion proper protocols weren’t followed with Aliir post-match, Barrett expected the AFL to release a statement on the matter.

“There’s nothing at this stage to suggest anything untoward happened,” Barrett said.

“But they do need to ask it, and Michael Makdissi the Chief Medical Officer has been asking questions.

“I believe at some stage today there’ll be a statement coming from headquarters about that particular matter.

“Ken Hinkley was comfortable with how it played out last night, but it was ugly to watch, hard to watch.

“The fact that Aliir wasn’t put through the protocols is a question I think the industry needs to ask.”

Hinkley stated that the club’s doctor felt Aliir was “well and truly ok” when the decision was made to allow him to continue playing on.

– LACHLAN GELEIT/ SEN