Port Adelaide former player Jay Schulz had 20 ‘concussions’ but didn’t miss a game

Jay Schulz copped a scary number of head knocks, footage shown by an Adelaide lawyer reveals. See the video.

Former Port Adelaide player Jay Schulz suffered more than 20 probable concussions during his time at the club and played again the following week.

Footage supplied to The Advertiser shows some of the apparent concussions suffered by Schulz, including instances when his head came into violent contact with the ground or with other players, completed the game and also played the following week.

In it least one instance, Schulz suffered apparent concussions in consecutive weeks. A commentator in one clip says: “He’s coming off a concussion last week, Jay Schulz’’.

Adelaide lawyer Greg Griffin played a longer form of the video last month at a Community Concussion Research Foundation forum.

“I thought it’d be useful for those just to see what actually happened on AFL fields,’’ he said.

Former Port Adelaide and Richmond player Jay Schulz. Picture: Sarah Rhodes

Jay Schulz concussion – Round 22, 2013 Fremantle v Port. Picture: Supplied

Schulz is one of the lead plaintiffs in a concussion class action against the AFL and multiple clubs and Mr Griffin has been examining publicly available vision of the former Port and Richmond player’s career for examples of potential concussions.

“We have identified, looking at around 50 per cent of his games, he’s around 20 (concussions) at least, and they are real concussions, that should never have been allowed,’’ Mr Griffin said.

Mr Griffin confirmed that Schulz had informed him that he had never missed a game because of concussion. Schulz retired in 2016 after a 194-game career at Port Adelaide and Richmond that began in 2003.

A spokesman for Port “politely declined’’ to comment because of the upcoming class action. The AFL also declined to comment, citing the class action.

The dangers associated with concussion was highlighted this week after a violent head clash between Port players Aliir Aliir and Lachie Jones. Jones was subbed out of the game with a migraine, but Aliir was not subject to a standard concussion test and was sent back onto the field. Port has since admitted it was a mistake for Aliir not to be tested and the AFL has fined the club $100,000 for the error.

Jay Schulz concussion – Round 22, 2014 Port v Carlton. Picture: Supplied

Schulz tweeted of the Aliir incident: “Footage from last nights head clash makes me feel sick. As someone who knows what can happen it’s disappointing. You could see they were both out before hitting the ground. It’s no one’s fault, we play a contact sport but it’s time the decision is taken away from player and club.’’

Port’s handling of concussion also came under fire from the partner of former Power player Sam Mayes this week, who said he had returned to the field multiple times after head knocks.

Mr Griffin believes the dangers of an early return to play after a concussion had been well known since 1986 and players should have been better protected by the AFL and the clubs by instituting a mandatory minimum recovery time well before they did in 2021.

“So many players were allowed to play concussed and returned to play too early. Many of them have now suffering from BTI (brain trauma injury), or having the early onset of brain and head issues,’’ he said.

How the AFL assesses concussion incidents

Scroll the PDF below to see the extensive Sport Concussion Assessment Tool used by the AFL.

In 2008, the AFL issued a paper called “The Management of Concussion in Australian Football’’. In it, it says only that “any players with a suspected concussive injury must be removed from the field of play for further evaluation’’. The 2011 version of the paper says that “any player who has suffered a concussion should not be allowed to return to play in the same game’’.

It was not until 2021, the AFL introduced a 12-day minimum rest and rehabilitation period for players diagnosed with concussion.

Mr Griffin said many players were enduring similar problems to Schulz.

In an interview last year with The Advertiser, Schulz said he suffered from “high anxiety, anger, depression, a very short fuse’’. A brain scan conducted as part of a Swinburne University study showed 19 areas of his brain had trauma, with most damage to the front temporal lobe, impairing decision making.

Jay Schulz concussion – Round 22, 2013 Fremantle v Port. Picture: Supplied

Mr Griffin said Schulz was “at a level, which is pretty consistent with a significant proportion of players, which is, they’re just not where they should be, or where they would have been, but for having played five or 10 years of AFL football’’.

He said he had spoken to hundreds of players, as well as partners and often ex-partners

“There are two frequently used statements (made by the partners) and it’s like it’s tattooed on their wrist,’’ he says. “The two statements most frequently used by the former partners and wives is ‘he is not the man I married’. And ‘I didn’t sign up for this’.’’

Players suspected of a concussion are expected to undergo what is known as a SCAT5 (Sport Concussion Assessment Tool) which asks a player a number of questions including ‘what venue are we at today’, how they feel physically (feeling like I’m in a fog), asks them to remember words and numbers backwards and gives a balance examination.

The test is conducted by a club doctor but Mr Griffin believes the AFL should assign independent neurologists to each game to assess potential concussions.

“They are independent of the club, they are sitting there to judge the player, so there can be no influence given by the crowd yelling or that or the coach saying ‘he’s okay’,’’ he said.

Jay Schulz concussion – Round 23, 2014 Port v Carlton. Picture: Supplied

The Advertiser Editor’s View: AFL squibs on punishing Port for its negligence

The collision last week between Port Adelaide’s Aliir Aliir and Lachie Jones made for sickening viewing and sparked immediate concern for the welfare of both players.

It didn’t take a medical degree to work out that both players were at serious risk of having suffered a concussion. But to the amazement of just about everyone, including rival Adelaide Crows’ players, Aliir was back on the ground five minutes later.

It would later emerge Port doctor Mark Fisher had not performed an AFL-recommended concussion test on Aliir.

Port was yesterday fined a wholly inadequate $100,000 for its negligent treatment of its players.

The AFL has long been accused of not taking concussion seriously enough. There has been evidence going back to the 1980s about the long-term damage caused by repeated concussions, yet it was not until 2021 that the AFL mandated a minimum rest period of 12 days.

The next time Port Adelaide, or any AFL club, neglects the welfare of its players in such startling fashion, the penalty should be a loss of premiership points or draft picks.

It is also time for the AFL to replace club doctors with trained neurologists when assessing potential brain injuries.

Port is not alone in not taking concussion seriously enough, but after the Aliir/Jones incident and the words of Cassie Burton, partner of ex-Port player Sam Mayes, who detailed this week instances where he was returned to the field after a head knock, it has to win back public confidence.

The long history of concussions endured by former Port and Richmond player Jay Schulz is also examined in our story. The accompanying video is distressing to watch but shows how vulnerable the head can be in a sport as physically demanding as Australian rules football.

Schulz’s lawyers say they have identified around 20 concussions already and still have much of his career to examine. After each incident, Schulz played the following week.

Schulz is now suffering deteriorating mental health and is a lead plaintiff, along with former Adelaide champion Darren Jarman and Katherine Tuck in a class action against the AFL and several clubs.

Port Adelaide needs to learn from this week’s hard lesson and become a leader in concussion management. Nothing less is acceptable.

Originally published as Port Adelaide former player Jay Schulz had 20 ‘concussions’ but didn’t miss a game