AFL warned concussion won’t be eradicated

THE AFL has been recommended to limit the number of contact training sessions and hire independent doctors to assess players who receive head knocks after a coroner’s findings into the death of former AFL midfielder Shane Tuck.

Tuck took his own life in July 2020 and was diagnosed with degenerative brain disease CTE after his death.

While more research is required, a contributing factor in CTE is understood to be repeat concussions and head knocks.

Victorian State Coroner John Cain recently told an inquest it was accepted that Tuck received a number of head knocks in his playing career, while Tuck was also said to have suffered poor mental health in the leadup to his death.

Tuck is one of at least five former AFL players to be diagnosed with CTE post-death, including Graham ‘Polly’ Farmer and Danny Frawley.

Among a number of recommendations, Cain recommended contact training for AFL players be limited throughout the year, including pre and post-season, while the league should also be responsible for employing independent medical experts to help in the detection of concussions for players who suffer head knocks.

Cain also commended the AFL for its work in the concussion space across recent years.

The league has three months to formally respond to the inquest and in a statement said it would take time to review the findings.

However, the league has been warned that concussion is a feature of the game that will never be eradicated.

Leading sports medio Dr. Peter Larkins said policy going forward needs to revolve around “prevention and management”, adding there’s plenty more work to be done.

“It’s very difficult to sanitise sports that have got contact an collision, especially when you have teammates running into each other… we saw that with Jeremy Cameron and Gary Rohan when they knocked each other into the next suburb,” he said on SEN Breakfast.

“So it’s not just opposition, it can happen in the nature of the game.

“The NFL have restricted their contact training to 30 minutes in certain sessions, in the United Kingdom they’ve stopped heading of the ball in under 15s… it’s like telling a footballer he’s not allowed to kick.

“They’re making changes around the world to try and make it safer but you obviously change your skillset then because you’re now preparing for the sport with the normal amount of preparation.

“So there are some incredible challenges there. Changes are being made to make it safer, but I don’t think we’re ever going to eliminate it. It’s going to be an ongoing discussion and we have to look at prevention and management at the same time.”

It’s a similar sentiment to the AFL Players’ Association, who said in a statement: “It remains clear that more work needs to be done to protect, care for and support current and past players who have, and will continue to, put their bodies on the line so the industry can prosper.”

The AFL itself said more than 30 rule changes have been made across the last two decades to assist in the reduction of concussion.

2023 was a landmark year for the competition, with a crackdown on tackles that could cause a head knock amongst the biggest on-field shifts seen in recent years.

– SEB MOTTRAM/ SEN