Mitchell backs $25m AFL concussion study
HAWTHORN coach Sam Mitchell says the AFL’s decision to spend $25m on a longterm study into the effects of concussion is an important step for player safety.
His comments come as a class action against the AFL involving up to 60 former players was launched at the Supreme Court in Melbourne on Tuesday morning.
Dual Geelong premiership player Max Rooke is the lead plaintiff in the action lodged by Melbourne firm Margalit Injury Lawyers, which alleged that Rooke, 41, has suffered permanent, life-altering injuries as a result of concussionrelated injuries, and due to the negligence of the AFL. It came just hours after the AFL released updated concussion guidelines and a five-year strategic plan and said players had to move through all 11 steps of the return-to-play program.
Mitchell said the $25m study would be important for helping club doctors better understand how to identify concussion symptoms.
“It’s such an unknown situation. What I do know is the way we’ve changed our attitude towards it is significant,” he said. “I think back when I played it wasn’t a heavily respected injury, it was something like a lot of things where you just got by or tried to play as quickly as you can and didn’t have the respect for it.
“Now our players are really honest with the doctors, and the doctors are in a really difficult situation where they have to really know the player to understand what symptoms might look like … and I think the whole world, but the AFL in particular, is taking it very seriously and try to go about it in the right way.”
The AFL expressed a frustration with the branding of the return-to-play guidelines as the “12-day concussion protocols” and will push to ensure players are moved through all steps of the program at a cautious pace this year.
Four full-time staff will be employed this season with a focus on concussion management, while a hardship fund is to be established to provide explayers one-off payments and ongoing care worth millions of dollars.
Other than Rooke, it is unclear which other players are involved in the action.