John Cain recommended the AFL introduce independent doctors and reduce contact training

The league has responded to a coroner’s sweeping recommendations to make the game safer, such as reducing contact training and having independent doctors.

The AFL will not immediately roll out safety initiatives recommended by the state coroner after the inquest into former Richmond star Shane Tuck, who died by suicide in July 2020.

Tuck, 38, was diagnosed at post mortem with severe CTE, an early onset dementia caused by repeated brain injuries that caused no symptoms.

Judge John Cain made sweeping recommendations to make football safer but the AFL in its 10-page response on Thursday said it was “still considering” key changes and indicated they would not be introduced this season.

Judge Cain recommended the AFL introduce independent doctors, reduce contact training, introduce mandatory baseline testing, and deploy ­instrumented mouthguards to reduce the risk of CTE.

Shane Tuck was diagnosed at post mortem with severe CTE.

The AFL in its response said independent doctors were “under consideration”.

However, the “potential benefits” and “unintended consequences” were being weighed up.

Leading brain injury researcher Alan Pearce said it was vital the code introduced independent doctors and ­reduced contact training.

“Club doctors are undermined by players and coaches all the time,” he said.

“(Players say), ‘You know me, Doc, I’m fine’. This is not about having a relationship with a player, it’s about seeing signs and symptoms a club doctor may overlook because they know the player too well.”

The state coroner made safety initiative recommendations after the Tuck inquest.

Judge Cain said a focus of his inquest was reducing the risk of players developing CTE, cognitive problems and other neurodegenerative diseases.

He heard expert evidence that exposure to sub-concussive head impacts was more closely correlated to CTE than concussion.

He recommended the AFL “limit the number of contact training sessions in the off and pre-season” beginning in 2025 for AFL/W .

The AFL said it was compiling data to identify “the circumstances of concussions sustained during training”.

Concussions in training, said the AFL, were a “robust surrogate measure of head impact frequency and magnitude”.

Professor Pearce fired back: “Where is the evidence for that?” adding he knew of no evidence that concussion was a “proxy” for repeated head ­injury.

“This clearly indicates the AFL does not understand exposure risk and CTE,” he said.

“We have to move on from a discussion about concussion. They keep forgetting that Shane Tuck didn’t die from concussion, he died from ­excessive exposure to sub-concussive head impacts.”

Tuck played 173 games until his retirement in 2013, and was never taken from the field with a diagnosed concussion.

AFL chief legal counsel Stephen Meade issued a statement following its coronial response acknowledging the Tuck family.

“On behalf of the AFL, we reiterate our deepest sympathies to the Tuck family on Shane’s untimely passing in 2020 and their immense contribution to research into concussion and head trauma in Australian football,” he said.

“The AFL continues to invest in and support research into concussion and repeated head trauma, including supporting the use of instrumented mouthguards by players, ­encouraging brain donation, and investing in the AFL Brain Health Initiative longitudinal research program.”

Originally published as John Cain recommended the AFL introduce independent doctors and reduce contact training