AFL 2021: Nick Riewoldt reveals he’d go through courts to play in GF if over concussion injury

Saints champion Nick Riewoldt has revealed the stunning lengths he would take to avoid a concussion ban if a Grand Final was on the line.

Brad Ebert is taken from the ground after suffering a concussion during preliminary final against the Tigers at Adelaide Oval. Picture: Getty Images

St Kilda great Nick Riewoldt says he would have tried to get a court injunction so he could line up in a Grand Final if he felt fine from a concussion and got the all-clear from a doctor, only to be ruled out by the AFL’s mandatory 12-day lay-off.

Riewoldt made the comments on Fox Footy’s AFL360 on Wednesday night, in response to Adelaide women’s captain Chelsea Randall being prevented from playing in Saturday’s premiership decider because she was going through the league’s new concussion protocols.

In January, the AFL doubled the compulsory break for players who suffered concussions from six to 12 days, ensuring they would miss at least one match.

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St Kilda great Nick Riewoldt says he would turn to the courts to play in a decider if he felt fine from a concussion and got the all-clear from a doctor.

Randall was involved in a heavy collision in last weekend’s preliminary final against Melbourne at Adelaide Oval.

Riewoldt said 12 was an arbitrary number of days to be on the sidelines and it provided an opportunity for players to challenge the AFL if they were cleared medically.

“This rule’s brought in and we all thought ‘imagine if a player misses a Grand Final because they’ve got to miss 12 days to play’,” Riewoldt said.

“We get an example of it in the first possible situation.

“If I was in the same situation, imagine September this year, still playing, in your 30s, captain, all of those things, I’m taking it as far as I can take it … to the Supreme Court — I’m going for an injunction.

“I’m not talking about a situation where you’ve been stretchered off and you don’t know your own name — let’s be really clear.

“But if I’m feeling OK and they’re saying ‘you’ve got to sit 12 days out’ … then I’m seeking an injunction and I’m trying to play.”

Some coaches have backed the AFL moving the bye in the lead-up to the major round to the week before the decider to reduce the chances of a player concussed in a preliminary final being ruled out of the season-ender.

Riewoldt, who retired in 2017 after 331 games for the Saints, including two grand finals plus a replay, said he understood the severity of concussion, but he had a gripe with the ambiguity of the protocols.

“Before I get smashed for not taking concussion seriously, I’ve had concussive episodes, I understand,” he said.

“When you give as much as players give for one thing and that’s to play in a grand final and to win a premiership.

“If I feel OK to play then I’m taking it as far as I possibly can.”

Former Hawthorn star turned St Kilda assistant Jarryd Roughead disagreed with Riewoldt.

But Roughead said his perspective was different because he had the ultimate success three times as a player.

Tigers star throws support behind finals bye move

Richmond star Jack Riewoldt says the pre-finals bye should be moved to before the Grand Final, not only to give concussed players a chance of playing in the showpiece event but to give the Brownlow Medal “clear air”.

Coaches have discussed whether there is merit in the AFL delaying this year’s pre-finals bye until after the preliminary finals, to avoid a concussion heartbreak.

It comes as Adelaide Crows women’s captain Chelsea Randall must sit out Saturday’s AFLW Grand Final against Brisbane Lions under the league’s 12-day mandatory concussion lay-off.

Riewoldt said he was a big fan of the idea, especially after the gutting blow for Randall.

“I’m massive believer of getting rid of the pre-finals bye and bringing it in before the Grand Final,” he said on AFL360.

“Can you imagine giving the Brownlow Medal on a Saturday night, giving it clear air for a whole week?

“Building it up, maybe having a State of Origin game because everyone has hung around… I think it would be fantastic.”

Under those protocols a player such as Dustin Martin (Richmond) or Marcus Bontempelli (Western Bulldogs) would automatically be ruled out of this year’s Grand Final should they suffer a concussion in the preliminary final.

But the AFL could circumvent that threat by redeploying the bye, which would deliver an NFL Super Bowl-style two-week build-up to the biggest game of the year.

There is nothing stopping the “flexible and agile” AFL from implementing the change this year.

This year’s September 25 day Grand Final will return to the MCG and is on track to be staged in front of 100,000 fans.

Pressure is mounting on the AFL to scrap the pre-finals bye because multiple coaches argue the five-year sample of data — it was introduced in 2016 — clearly shows that the qualifying finals winners have had their rewards diluted.

In 2016 and 2020 both qualifying final winners failed to reach the Grand Final, an occurrence which in 16 previous years under the same finals system had never happened.

Coaches canvassed by the Herald Sun on Monday were comfortable with the equity of both Grand Finalists being given a week off, so long as that replaced the pre-finals bye.

More than 20 concussions have been diagnosed in the AFL this season. All of those players have been required to miss a minimum of 12 days.

Adelaide captain Chelsea Randall leaves the field after a collision with Eliza McNamar. Picture: Getty Images

They include Melbourne’s Steven May (two in five weeks), Kamdyn McIntosh (Richmond), Rhys Stanley (Geelong), Callum Mills (Sydney), Tom Rockliff (Port Adelaide), Jake Kelly (Adelaide), Jimmy Webster, Max King (St Kilda), Chris Mayne, Nathan Murphy (Collingwood), Nat Fyfe, Brandon Walker, Lachie Schulz (Fremantle), Ben Cunnington, Curtis Taylor, Cameron Zurhaar, (North Melbourne), Zac Langdon (West Coast), Mitch Hannan (Western Bulldogs, David Cuningham (Carlton) and Sean Lemmens (Gold Coast).

In recent years Dylan Shiel, Callan Ward (GWS) and Brad Ebert (Port Adelaide) have all been knocked out in losing preliminary finals. Ward and Ebert’s teams both lost by six points.

Under this year’s guidelines they would’ve come extremely close to missing out on the biggest game of their lives through concussion.

Ebert’s final act on the field was a courageous spoil on Jack Riewoldt. The possibility of him missing the decider did not sit well with some AFL coaches.

“Poor old Brad Ebert who plays every game for the year misses a Grand Final because of the concussion,” triple-premiership Richmond coach Damien Hardwick said.

“It was a discussion point among some of the coaches about well maybe the week off is between the prelim and the Grand Final, so it’s a bigger build up, rather than at the end of the (home-and-away) year.

“I know some of the coaches are not overly happy about the bye prior to the start of the finals.”

Ebert missed five games in 2020. Hardwick was pleased with last year’s pre-finals bye because it helped Dion Prestia and Shane Edwards return. But from an integrity standpoint he spoke out against it on AFL360 last month.

“No I don’t think it does (serve the competition),” Hardwick said on Fox Footy.

Originally published as AFL 2021: Nick Riewoldt reveals he’d go through courts to play in GF if over concussion injury