Justin Clarke to be awarded concussion compo but Matt Maguire and Sam Blease to fight on for payout
RETIRED Lion Justin Clarke will be awarded compensation of more than $600,000 as Matt Maguire and Sam Blease continue their fight for a payout.
AFL
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RETIRED Brisbane Lion Justin Clarke will be awarded compensation of more than $600,000 under the AFL’s career-ending injury scheme as other retired concussion sufferers, Matt Maguire and Sam Blease, continue their fight for a payout.
The Herald Sun revealed last month the AFL’s insurers had knocked back Maguire and Blease because both had suffered previous concussions.
They could end up at the AFL’s grievance tribunal if they are rebuffed again.
It is understood the AFL and AFL Players’ Association are committed to a review of concussion payouts in upcoming collective bargaining agreement negotiations.
AFL football operations manager Mark Evans said the current scheme and the AFLPA’s hardship fund were the two current options for players.
“The criteria for both of these schemes doesn’t seem to adequately cater for some of the possible injuries around head knocks,’’ Evans said.
“It’s something that is a persistent issue. We are in discussions with the PA about what we might do with that.”
Clarke has been told by the AFL’s concussion experts he has an open-and-shut case for a payout.
As a player under 24, that will be 200 per cent of his 2016 base payment salary of more than $300,000.
Clarke, 22, suffered a single head knock in January and was told by three experts retirement was his only option.
Clarke, Maguire and Blease are among five players who have retired because of head knocks or concussion since the start of 2015.
Adelaide’s Brent Reilly and North Melbourne’s Leigh Adams are the others.
In his fourth year, Clarke was ready to blossom but instead suffered horrific symptoms after a major collision.
“I’m devastated that not only will I never be able to play footy again, but I won’t be able to play contact sport again either,” Clarke said.
Lawyers for former Lions defender Maguire and former Geelong midfielder Blease believe the initial compensation ruling will be overturned.
They will argue Maguire had not missed games after previous concussions, and the AFL’s rules focus on a “primary” injury that caused a career-ending injury.
The rules on career-ending injuries have barely changed since being introduced in 1998.
A player under 24 with a career-ending injury gets 200 per cent of his salary, a 25-29-year-old gets 150 per cent and a player 30 or older gets 50 per cent.
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