Geelong defender Jake Kolodjashnij says he was happy to miss a season of football to get his brain right

A Geelong defender with a serious family history of concussions says he was happy to sit out six months if needed after battling through his latest head knock.

Jake Kolodjashnij returned for the Cats on Monday. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Geelong defender Jake Kolodjashnij was willing to sit out six months of football this year if his concussion symptoms didn’t settle down and he will gladly put his brain before the game.

The reliable Cat played his first AFL game of the season in Monday’s smashing of Hawthorn, after sitting out for a month following a head knock in Geelong’s pre-season game against Brisbane.

Jake Kolodjashnij missed a month after being concussed in pre-season. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

Kolodjashnij had multiple concussions in 2022 and his brother, Kade, retired at 24 due to a series of head knocks.

The premiership Cat said his intimate knowledge of the damage of head trauma through his brother was “definitely a factor” after he struggled to return to normal following the Brisbane knock.

Kolodjashnij sat out the opening rounds of the season and played in the VFL last weekend before making his senior return, but he said he would have sat out the season if it was best for his health.

He said while it was “frustrating” to miss the start of the season, he praised Geelong for easing him back to the field.

Kade Kolodjashnij retired at 24. Picture: Tertius Pickard

“I probably didn’t pull up as good as I had from my previous concussions throughout my career so I had the approach of if I had to sit out six months then so be it,” he said.

“I was lucky enough my symptoms settled down and I worked with the club and went through the process there and made sure I was ticked off to play and wasn’t putting myself at risk, so credit to the footy club there.

“I wasn’t going to be rushing back.”

Talk around concussion will only continue to grow, with multiple lawsuits being prepared led by past players, while calls came from some parts of the media for Patty McCartin to retire after the Sydney defender was concussed again following a seemingly innocuous collision with the SCG turf on Saturday night.

Kolodjashnij said he was aware of the talk and it was “a pretty hot topic of late”.

Fellow defender Sam De Koning is set to return from an enforced concussion break on Sunday against West Coast but running backman Jed Bews will miss the game as he enters concussion protocols.

“At the end of the day you have to put your health first, we obviously love footy and love winning games of footy like (against Hawthorn) but when it comes to that stuff and your brain, you only have one brain so you have to look after it,” he said.

Originally published as Geelong defender Jake Kolodjashnij says he was happy to miss a season of football to get his brain right