AFL 2025: Concussion protocol remains at 12-day minimum, doctors’ on-field role to change

Club doctors will be given unprecedented powers to stop AFL games if they fear a player has suffered concussion, it can be revealed. JON RALPH has exclusive details.

The AFL will allow doctors to stop play to take players off the field for head assessments this year in a seismic change to the league’s concussion protocols.

The Herald Sun can reveal the league has acted to implement a new ‘HIA removal process’ which acts in a similar manner as the blood rule but for head knocks.

The change comes after a series of worrying incidents last year involving the stars of the game that saw doctors frantically trying to assess players who were clearly dazed or confused.

The league will still allow doctors to complete assessments of players in some circumstances without taking them off the field after they suffer head knocks.

But the league has told clubs there are two circumstances in which club doctors can request the umpires stop play to get a player off the field.

Harry McKay suffered a head knock before kicking a goal in 2024. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

Play will stop when a club receives a mandatory notification message from the ARC spotter for a detailed off-field assessment for a player.

It will also stop when a club doctor determines he needs to conduct the preliminary HIA assessment rather than just by observing a player on the field.

The club doctor will ask the AFL match day manager to convey to the umpires that he needs to get a player off the ground and play will be momentarily halted at the next stoppage.

The field umpires will stop play after the next score or stoppage or might immediately stop play if the ball is in the “vicinity” of the player who is in the hands of medical staff.

Last year St Kilda’s doctor completed an initial assessment of star ruckman Rowan Marshall while he was about to compete for a ruck throw-in.

Geelong star Jeremy Cameron continued to play while the Cats doctor chased him for a HIA after a heavy fall but did not leave the field.

He was subsequently ruled as concussed after delayed symptoms, with the Cats cleared by the AFL after it ruled they had conducted the on-ground HIA which included a review of the incident on video.

Carlton was handed an official reprimand by the AFL late in the season after Harry McKay suffered a head knock but was delayed in leaving the field because Blues doctors were already tending to other injured players.

Harry McKay came from the ground following this contest in the third quarter.#AFLBluesNorthpic.twitter.com/RSl4C1JXoF

— AFL (@AFL) July 21, 2024

An independent AFL doctor had ruled he needed an off-field assessment with a SCAT6 test but that process was delayed too long for the league’s liking.

The AFL’s executive general manager of football Laura Kane told clubs the league would continue to change rules to safeguard players after 30 rule tweaks and changes in the past 10 years to help reduce concussion.

“This process ensures we do not have a protracted situation where either doctors or a runner or trainer are trying to remove a player from the field and the player runs off or ignores the call. It is important that we continue to make it easier for the doctors and clubs to manage any possible head impact,” she said.

Under the AFL’s guidelines set by AFL chief medical officer Michael Makdissi, clubs must complete a brief clinical assessment of a player after a head knock which may be done on the sidelines or on the field.

It is usually up to the discretion of the club doctor, who may then decide the player needs a detailed off-field head injury assessment which includes the SCAT6 test.

But an independent AFL doctor in the AFL’s ARC can immediately decide a player should be removed for that more detailed head injury assessment.

That test includes a review of the video to look for specific symptoms, a balance disturbance test and takes at least 15 minutes.

The club doctor will then make an assessment about whether a player is concussed and enters the 12-day protocol or can return to the ground.

The AFL’s independent doctors in the ARC communicate directly with club doctors and the football boss and can issue a mandatory notification.

Those notifications are in three categories – demanding an off-field HIA, asking for a discretionary HIA which can take place on the field or sideline, or a video review so the club doctor is aware of a player who might have received a head knock.

AFL REVEALS QUIRKY NEW RULES, 2025 CONCUSSION PROTOCOLS

The AFL will retain its minimum 12 day concussion protocol this season but on average players are taking nearly three weeks to pass through the graded steps in a return to football.

The AFL last year kept its 12-day AFL protocols but changed its community guidelines so the earliest a player can return to a game at a lower level than the AFL is 21 days.

In 2025 the league will retain that minimum 12-day concussion protocol for AFL players and 21 days for community footy under a protocol that takes in rest, then gradual recovery and then a graded return to play.

But it is understood the process which requires players to tick off a series of individual milestones before progressing to the next step saw players in the AFL and AFLW return on average between 19-21 days.

The concussion protocols are not changing this year. Picture: Getty Images

It means clubs are taking the league’s protocols seriously and not allowing their players to rush through those steps.

Players are also being honest about their symptoms with club doctors and are prepared to take enough time to get better.

The AFL is also reviewing its rules around contact training across the summer and it seems likely to reduce the amount of contact allowed.

A series of quirky regulations have also been brought in by the AFL regarding headbands and under-shorts players wear on the field.

The league has ruled that players wearing under-shorts must ensure they are shorter than their AFL playing shorts and cannot carry sponsor logos.

Players using headbands must have them in club colours or as the same colour as their own hair.

Bailey Smith can no longer wear his Nike headband during games. Picture: Getty Images

New Geelong star Bailey Smith wore a white Nike headband in a scratch match last weekend but has been told he cannot use a headband with a logo in official competition.

The league has also attempted to inform the public about its contentious holding the ball rule, preparing four education modules to send to clubs and the public.

Four modules have been prepared on holding the ball, insufficient intent, high tackles and contact with umpires with live examples in an attempt to provide greater clarity.

Originally published as AFL 2025: Concussion protocol remains at 12-day minimum, doctors’ on-field role to change