Peter Jess has called for AFL Chair Richard Goyder’s removal over the handling of Nathan Murphy’s grand final concussion
Concussion campaigner Peter Jess has lambasted the AFL over its protocols after Magpie Nathan Murphy was left to rule himself out midway through the grand final.
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Concussion campaigner Peter Jess has savaged the AFL over its concussion protocols which gave the green light to Collingwood defender Nathan Murphy to continue to play in the grand final.
Calling for AFL Commission chairman Richard Goyder to step down, Jess also said the fact Murphy had suffered 10 concussions throughout his junior and senior career was “horrific’’.
Jess said the AFL’s current concussion system needed an urgent reset before the 2024 season, and that the lack of intervention by AFL Players Association and WorkSafe Victoria into Murphy’s situation was “beyond belief’’.
Murphy was knocked in the head during the first quarter of the grand final, had concussion tests at quarter time which he passed, but then ruled himself out of the game because he said he had blurry vision.
The Herald Sun revealed Murphy, 23, will soon be assessed by the league’s independent medical experts, which would likely determine if he retires from the game.
“It is a scary situation for him and for every other footballer,’’ Jess said. “And for every parent who is going to send their sons and daughters into the care of a football system that is flawed.
“Who is responsible for what has happened to Nathan Murphy?’’
Jess, who last week had a meeting with the AFL’s legal counsel Stephen Meade about concussion in the game, said Murphy’s latest concussion was yet another red-alert moment.
“The fortress AFL has finally been breached absolutely with Nathan Murphy being brave enough to confirm the HIA and Scat 5-6 are not fit for purpose as a concussion assessment tool,’’ Jess said.
“The fact that Nathan was allowed to accumulate 10 clinical concussions without any intervention by the AFL or WorkSafe is beyond belief.
“Since 2019, when I first warned the AFL that the science and medicine underpinning the HIA was centred on the (research) by Paul McCrory, who was subsequently found to have manufactured (research) to downplay the long term consequences of concussion, the safety of players has clearly been at risk.
“We told the AFL (last week) that since 2019, you’ve got 17 players that we know who are in the red-zone, where they’ve had three or more clinical concussions.
“The AFL told me they have a record of clinical concussion for every player … no record of sub clinical concussion which are the most dangerous.
“Nathan, I think, already had five concussions when he was a junior, so he was already in the red zone before he came in.’’
Jess said independent medical experts “in the field of brain trauma’’ needed to be engaged by the AFL.
“The AFL concussion management system is in tatters and needs an independent reset before the 2024 season,’’ Jess said.
“The chairman Richard Goyder knew the system was flawed, as did the management team at the AFL and WorkSafe, as well as the AFLPA.
“The Nathan Murphy situation highlights why Richard Goyder should be removed as chairman because … since 2019, the science and medicine supporting the concussion management system was flawed.
“It’s not only him, it’s everyone who did nothing about it.
“It’s why players have started the class action because the AFL wasn’t listening.
“As part of the reset they must be removed from the decision making process and independent experts in the field of brain trauma engaged to create new safety paradigms to protect players.’’
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