SCHWARZ HEAD KNOCK PLEA
Time for an automatic week off after concussion
IF a player leaves the ground with a concussion, it must be mandatory for them to miss the next week of football.
Our medical experts and researchers are discovering more negative impacts of head knocks and we need to take a long-term approach, not the old footy approach of “she’ll be right”.
One week is a long time in football, but during a player’s entire life their footy career will make up just a speck.
Are we risking the future health for the sake of one week and one game of football?
Last round we saw two massive hits.
Tom Rockliff and Nat Fyfe were knocked out. Taken from the field.
Fyfe spoke about losing all memory of the incident and only becoming aware of his surroundings once he had been taken from the ground and was in the rooms.
He’s been ruled out of this week — a big decision given it’s the first derby of the year, but it’s the right decision.
Rockliff has been picked to play. He says he’s right. He says he’s passed all the tests. But the decision shouldn’t be his in the first place.
A rule to stop players playing the week after suffering from concussion will be of greater benefit in the long term.
There’s going to be some hardluck stories. If this was Grand Final week, would Fyfe be keen to rest?
Not a chance, that’s why a mandatory week off needs to become the norm.
Introducing independent expert concussion doctors to assess players should happen. It will remove any doubt or ambiguity.
We are still learning so much about the impact of concussion that we need to think with long-term strategies.
Taking one week off football might be the long-term benefit we’re hoping for.
If I had my time again, I would have listened to the doctors who told me I needed to have an operation on my finger. I’d miss six weeks, but gain full use of my ring finger again after they repaired the ligament. I chose to play on.
Today I can’t move that finger, I can’t hold a drink with that hand without that finger sticking straight out, and I can’t wear my wedding ring because the finger has become so thin due to lack of use that the band slips right off.
And I’m only talking about my finger. With concussion we’re talking about the brain, we’ve only got one.
The players’ association won’t like to be told that their members can’t play, but this is something that could come back to bite them in 10, 20 or 50 years when the after-effects of concussion become clearer and the impacts of head knocks come to life.
It’s a hard rule to bring in because players want to play.
As much as we love seeing warriors out on the field and we applaud when someone gets up after being knocked over, we need to think clearly about this, and we need to focus on the long term, not the next set play.