SA football great Keith Thomas says some amateur coaches are playing down concussion

A former Port Adelaide chief executive and Norwood playing great says some amateur footy coaches are risking players’ health with their handling of concussion.

Amateur football coaches are pressuring club officials not to diagnose players with concussion so they don’t miss future games, according to former Norwood great Keith Thomas who runs a company that operates clinical trials in the game’s lower leagues.

Mr Thomas, chief executive of SPARK, a company developing affordable concussion-detecting technology, said it was about “taking decisions out of the hands of the players and coaches, it’s got to be independent medically driven decision making’’.

The Adelaide Footy League this year introduced a mandatory 21-day stand down period for any player who had been diagnosed with concussion.

“One of the unexpected consequences of the 21-day mandatory recovery period this year is that at the community level, coaches have got back into the conversation,’’ the former Port Adelaide chief executive said.

Wendy Smith, mother of footballer Antonio Lo Iacono who died after a head hit during a footy game, with neuroscientist Professor Alan Pearce (left) and former Hawthorn AFL great John Platten. Picture: Dean Martin

He said when the compulsory rest period was 12 days, the attitude was “well, it’s a week and a half and maybe we can do it” but three weeks “tips over a threshold’’.

“All of a sudden., you are getting decisions like ‘sit him down but don’t diagnose him with concussion’. So that means he doesn’t have to go through the medical clearance on Thursday night and he plays next week.’’

Mr Thomas said the goal was to give amateur football players access to the same level of health care as those in the AFL enjoyed.

Mr Thomas was part of a panel discussion at a fundraiser at Grange Golf Club for the Concussion Legacy Foundation. The event raised around $40,000 and was held in honour of 20-year-old amateur footballer Antonio Lo Iacono, who died last year after suffering two head injuries while playing for Birdwood against Gumeracha.

Birdwood footballer Antonio Lo Iacono died after suffering two head injuries during a Hills Football League game in 2023. Picture: Supplied

Lo Iacono’s mother Wendy Smith, who is currently taking legal action against the South Australian National Football League, the Birdwood and Gumeracha football clubs and the Women’s and Children’s Hospital over the death of her son, was also part of a panel.

“I’d like to see more acknowledgment from the Australian government because although those second impact syndrome is rare, it’s fatal and it’s real,’’ Ms Smith said.

Concussion expert Dr Alan Pearce said more study needed to be done on second-impact syndrome and backed mandatory rest periods for concussed players.

“In 2015 I did a study where we found that symptom resolution was much earlier than full brain recovery,’’ he said.

Former Hawthorn and Central District champion John Platten suffered numerous concussions over his long career and said he could not remember playing in the famous 1989 grand final between the Hawks and Geelong.

“It was a game which I watched it the next day,” he said.

Platten said he was still living with the after-effects of his footy career.

“I still get headaches, I still have problems sleeping at night time, and I do have a temper,’’ he said.

“You forget the little things like where you put your keys and where the letterbox is.’’