Port Adelaide has been issued a please explain from the AFL over its handling of nasty head clash in Showdown 54
Port Adelaide has confirmed it will provide further information to the AFL about Saturday’s night incident as the league weighs up further punishment. Here’s the latest.
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Port Adelaide’s club doctor Mark Fisher has conceded he was wrong to allow Aliir Aliir’s return to the field without a concussion test, as the star defender and teammate Lachie Jones were put into the concussion protocol.
This masthead revealed on Monday afternoon Port Adelaide had been issued with a please explain from the AFL in a dramatic aftermath to Saturday’s head clash between the pair.
The AFL’s please explain relates to the club’s decision not to “undertake a SCAT5 concussion test” after Aliir’s head injury assessment on Saturday night.
The league’s clear view is that the force of the head knock should have resulted in Aliir being subjected to a 15-minute concussion protocol, which includes the extensive SCAT5 testing.
The Power decided on Monday that Jones, substituted out of the game with a migraine after his concussion test, was now in the concussion protocol.
And Fisher confirmed Aliir had also been put in the protocols – sidelining him for a minimum of 11 days – after reviewing the vision of the head clash.
Both players were still suffering headaches on Monday as they were assessed by Fisher.
“Like Lachie, Aliir’s condition was the subject of testing both on Saturday night after the game and since,” Fisher said.
“However, upon reviewing the vision of the incident again, Aliir should have undergone SCAT testing at the time immediately following the collision.
“Both Lachie and Aliir will have a gradual return to play as per the AFL’s concussion management guidelines. Lachie was tested during the game and after it, then again on Sunday. “We have continued to monitor him and after further testing this morning he has entered the concussion protocols out of an abundance of caution.”
Lawyers acting for former players, including Peter Jess and Margalit Injury Lawyers Principal Michel Margalit, have already lashed the Power decision to return Aliir to the ground.
It means both players will miss against Geelong – a clash where fellow defender Miles Bergman is also in doubt with a hip-groin issue.
Under the league’s own concussion policy, players must immediately be removed from play for a SCAT5 test for a variety of reasons after a head knock or collision.
They include lying motionless for more than two seconds, no protective action in a fall to the ground, possible motor incoordination, possible behaviour changes and any “uncertainty from the club doctor that the player is not quite right following trauma”.
Aliir clearly seemed dazed and motionless for several seconds, but instead of Fisher handing him a concussion test, he returned to the field after five minutes and 35 seconds.
Port Adelaide football boss Chris Davies said on Monday the Power would provide more information to the league in coming days about Saturday night as the AFL considers a potential punishment.
“They haven’t failed concussion tests today, both of them have suggested that they still have headaches and on that basis out of an abundance of caution we have made the decision to put both of them into the AFL’s concussion protocols,” he said.
“Their conversation over the last few days have been around the process and that has given our doctor the opportunity to reflect on the vision specifically.
“He is happy for both to be put in the concussion protocols and specifically in regards to Aliir he should have done that SCAT5 test immediately after the incident.
“It is a medical call that is not for coaches or administrators to make. Dr Fisher has been a longstanding doctor at this club, he has been a medical professional for a long time and has been at both Olympic and Commonwealth Games. His decision on the night was to not do and as I said on reflection he should have. In this case Mark Fisher on reflection believes that he should have done the SCAT5 test immediately after.”
The league could levy punishment including fines on the Power if it decides that doctor Mark Fisher breached the league’s guidelines on concussion by not giving Aliir a SCAT5 test.
The Power on Sunday made clear doctor Fisher was strong in his belief Aliir had no concussion-related symptoms so did not need the SCAT 5 test.
But the AFL has come a long way even since last year, when it cleared the Power over the quick return to play of Tom Jonas and Zak Butters after a collision.
The league ruled in that case the Power had no case to answer but as the AFL cracks down on concussion management it believed Fisher should have exercised caution.
The league’s protocols do not explicitly state that a player must have a SCAT5 test after a head clash.
But the league wants its doctors to exercise caution, with Aliir instead returning to the ground in quick time.
The league’s statement on Monday read: “The AFL has issued the Port Adelaide Football Club with a please explain regarding the concussion protocol management of Aliir Aliir, specifically in relation to the Club’s decision not to undertake a SCAT5 concussion test following the Head Injury Assessment (HIA) that occurred during the third quarter of Saturday night’s showdown at Adelaide Oval. Aliir returned to play after the initial HIA without a SCAT5 being undertaken.
“In absence of the SCAT5 test occurring and out of an abundance of caution, the Port Adelaide Football Club has decided to enter Aliir into AFL Concussion protocols and he will be unable to participate, at a minimum, in the club’s Round 21 match this week vs the Geelong Cats.
“Upon further review after being substituted on Saturday night, Port Adelaide player Lachie Jones, who was involved in the collision with Aliir, has also entered AFL Concussion protocols.
“Both players will now need to undertake and medically pass the mandatory 11-step, minimum 12-day process before returning to play. The AFL’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr Michael Makdissi will continue to liaise with Port Adelaide Club doctors in the monitoring both player’s progress”
Aliir misses training, breaks silence ahead of reassessment
Port Adelaide defender Aliir Aliir didn’t train on Monday but says he’s ‘feeling fine’ after the nasty head clash with Lachie Jones in Showdown 54.
Speaking for the first time since the incident, Aliir confirmed he was feeling OK two days later, but was “due to see the doctor to get reassessed”.
“There’s been some questions asked, but I feel fine now, I felt fine on the night,” Aliir said outside Alberton on Monday.
Aliir briefly emerged from the race to look at training but didn’t join his teammates on the track.
Lachie Jones was part of the training group that walked laps and did some kicking before he went back into the rooms.
He then went with Scott Lycett and Willie Rioli into a meeting.
Miles Bergman also left the track early as he battles groin soreness.
Crow surprised by Port’s decision to keep Aliir on
Adelaide ruckman Reilly O’Brien says he was surprised to see Aliir Aliir return to the field in the Showdown, just minutes after the Port Adelaide defender was involved in a sickening head clash.
The AFL is investigating the Power’s handling of Aliir’s head knock in Saturday night’s Showdown at Adelaide Oval.
While Lachie Jones, who clashed heads with Aliir, was taken into the rooms for a SCAT5 test the Power key defender was passed fit by club doctor Mark Fisher without any further assessment required.
Speaking for the first time since the incident, Aliir confirmed he was feeling OK two days later, but was “due to see the doctor to get reassessed”.
“There’s been some questions asked, but I feel fine now, I felt fine on the night,” Aliir said outside Alberton on Monday.
O’Brien, who has a Masters of Neuroscience from King’s College London, said it was not a nice incident to witness.
“It didn’t look good did it? A big head clash and the guys not moving that much afterwards,” he told Mix 102.3.
“It was a little bit surprising to see (Aliir) come back on but obviously it was in their doctor’s hands and that’s what they did.
“But it is not nice to see guys get crunched like that.
“(It was surprising) a little bit when you see a big clash like that, but it was obviously their doctors and their clubs’ call so it is hard to judge from afar.”
The AFL is continuing to be in contact with the Power regarding the management of Aliir and Jones.
The incident has sparked calls for an independent doctor to be at games to assess potential concussions.
O’Brien said he worried about the long-term impacts of concussions.
“Absolutely yeah from a personal view I worry about it,” he said.
“I think the game has changed a lot from the 90s and 2000s where it was pretty routine to get concussions and keep playing, you didn’t have the education around it.
“But it is definitely something that is front of mind for me when it comes to thinking about my long term future.”
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