A great piece by Alan Pearce about the recent spate of #concussion retirements in the AFL. I was glad to contribute some thoughts.

theconversation.com/are-2-mid-care… via The Conversation - Australia + New Zealand

Are the retirements of Nathan Murphy and Angus Brayshaw a sign that concussion is being taken more seriously by (some) athletes?

Great insight via Alan Pearce and Dr Stephen Townsend

#concussion #AFL

theconversation.com/are-2-mid-care…

'To prioritise athlete welfare, outdated attitudes need to change across Australia...Murphy’s retirement and acknowledgement of his long-term brain health is one sign the culture of valorising injury and risk may be changing.'
Dr Stephen Townsend Niall Seewang
theconversation.com/are-2-mid-care…

'Giants Toby Greene has revealed he used to play through concussions, hiding his symptoms from club medical staff in order to stay available for matches'
But we kept getting told that club drs know their players best & no objective markers are needed...
foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-2024-g…

A few comments from me regarding another medical retirement in the AFL.

I argued this over a decade ago, but no one listens to neuroscientists...Nice to see the culture starting to change.

Breaking - Collingwood premiership defender Nathan Murphy has this morning told teammates he is retiring.

A meeting with a panel of experts on Saturday determined he be medically retired after concussion.

He finishes at age 24 + won a flag in his last game
7NEWS Melbourne 7AFL

Shame he didn’t shave his locks for Concussion Legacy Foundation Australia charity, where we educate everyone regarding concussion which can have long term consequences if not recognised and treated properly.

Nailed it

This bloke must shake his head very single day

No shit...

May be it’s just me, but any similarities to Tua Tagovailoa in 2023 who also “lost balance” for no apparent reason?

Nah, it’s must be just me…

Great to see Netball Australia showing leadership with implementation of independent doctors. Even if they are there for the away team, they can also assist the home team club doctor.

Now for some other sporting organisations to lift their game.

“After Guyton’s CTE diagnosis was confirmed, New Zealand Rugby expressed sympathy to his family and admitted it was concerned about the “possibility” that head [impacts] from playing the game could lead to neurodegenerative diseases in later life.”
thepost.co.nz/sport/35023849…

Maybe Max King needs to “pass” the Sports Wrist Assessment Tool version 6 (SWAT6) 😉…

'...It was just a 450-word story last month in the Herald Sun newspaper in Melbourne yet, though it slipped through the filter, the point is that every Paul McCrory story makes you shudder at how dangerous he was and still might be.' via The Times and The Sunday Times
thetimes.co.uk/sport/rugby-un…

Somedays I just despair at the work we are trying to do to make sports safer.
And the rugby-friendly media broadcasters describing this action as a 'brain explosion' rather than calling it for what it is (an intentional act) is disappointing.

'The health and wellbeing of our athletes is our highest priority' - Anon

For those in Sydney, please join the walk to #endcte . We will be organising a Melbourne walk too, so look out for upcoming announcements Concussion Legacy Foundation

This is an example of why the Concussion Legacy Foundation Australia #mediaproject is so important. We need to properly educate commentators and journalists around concussion and CTE - they are not the same thing.

Concussion is NOT a head knock, it's a brain injury!