AFL concussion news: Former Saint Rod Owen lashes out at league over treatment of past players

Rod Owen has detailed his ongoing concussion symptoms in slamming the AFL’s apology to victims as “nothing more than empty words”.

Rod Owen has spoken up about the concussion issues plaguing the AFL.

Former St Kilda champion Rod Owen has called on the AFL to “stop the embarrassing sweeping under the carpet” and show that it cares about concussion before another past player dies.

In a heartfelt open letter to the league and the AFL Player’s Association on the back of a damning report into former AFL concussion expert Paul McCrory, Owen said “enough is enough” as past players like himself “continue to deal with our affected brains with little and limited support”.

McCrory steered the league’s direction of head knocks between 2014 and 2019, with as many as 600 past players signing up to the AFL’s concussion research program with McCrory’s Florey Institute.

The Florey program was found by the report to be “underfunded and under-resourced” and “no published research from the study” ever eventuated.

McCrory also admitted to seven cases of plagiarism of his research, with the review panel finding a further four cases.

Rod Owen has spoken up about the concussion issues plaguing the AFL.

The AFL last week apologised to the past players involved “who gave up their time in the hope of better understanding their own conditions and to assist with the research”.

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However, Owen wrote, “The apology to us past players was nothing more than empty words”.

“Many people do not see our continuing symptoms of dizziness, anger, impulsivity, struggle with concentration and fatigue,” Owen’s open letter read.

“Our families have seen it. It’s heartbreaking.”

Owen said the league “not knowing who was doing what is not an excuse”.

“It’s time to sack the ones in charge of the concussion research,” Owen wrote.

“As past players who put in so many years into the sport and provided the AFL sensitive medical information in the survey we participated in good faith, we have never had an opportunity to know what is going on. Even now, we do not know who is in charge.”

Owen said the AFL and AFLPA must appoint a truly “independent group of people not attached to these big sports” to lead its concussion research who “genuinely care for getting the truth out”.

“We know that it’s all about the money,” he wrote.

“Show us past players that you care and also care about the next generation, before another one of us dies and is shown to have a brain disease.”

Owen played 81 games for St Kilda, Melbourne and Brisbane Bears between 1983 and 1992.

The AFL was contacted for comment.