Retired AFL players suffering neurological impairments from head knocks screened for Federal Court damages action

SEVENTY retired AFL players battling neurological impairments linked to head knocks are being screened as part of a looming Federal Court damages action, including former Hawk John Platten and ex-Bomber and Cat John Barnes.

SEVENTY retired AFL players battling neurological impairments linked to head knocks are being screened as part of a looming Federal Court damages action.

Lead lawyer and former Adelaide United chairman Greg Griffin flew out for Boston on Friday to meet US concussion specialists involved in litigation against the NFL and NHL.

Griffin said he expected papers in the concussion case against the AFL to be filed this year.

“I’m going to Boston for a very specific purpose and that’s to put the pieces in the jigsaw so we can move the litigation on,” Griffin said.

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“We’re going to see what developments there have been in this area of medicine and how that will assist our Australian experts.”

The case will initially involve several lead plaintiffs likely including Hawthorn Brownlow medallist John Platten, ex-Essendon ruckman John Barnes, Mark of the Century high-flyer Shaun Smith and former Western Bulldog Matty Robbins.

“In the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s, (AFL) football was more like Circus Maximus than a properly controlled and operated sport,” Griffin said.

John Platten suffered several concussions in his career, including one in the 1989 Grand Final.

“For every professional footballer, they are in a workplace, and they are entitled to be protected.”

The 70 players identified by Griffin’s legal team are being tested by Australia’s leading independent neuroscientists and radiologists.

Melbourne neuroscientist Dr Alan Pearce told the Herald Sun on Friday: “These tests will ascertain changes in the brain experienced by players corallating to years of repeated concussions. All data will be compared to aged-match controls.

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“The brain scanning will involve the latest technologies to look at the white matter parts of the brain.”

Griffin is meeting experts from the Boston University School of Medicine and the Concussion Legacy Foundation, including Dr Robert Cantu, an expert witness in the NFL class action.

“I’ve read their reports, clearly they are all probably the best qualified experts in the world to give evidence and I want to discuss the Australian position with them,” Griffin said.

“I will certainly be asking them if they are prepared to give evidence in any Australian litigation.

Former Essendon and Geelong ruckman John Barnes recently detailed his health issues post-footy as a result of head knocks. Picture: Jay Town

“There are also a number of world-class experts operating in Melbourne and Sydney at the cutting edge of this field of medicine, who are already treating a large number of damaged players.

“We are treating every player equally and that’s why we aren’t rushing it.”

Player agent and concussion campaigner Peter Jess said: “Greg’s trip to Boston is a vital step in obtaining the world’s best research into the long-term damage created by repetitive collisions, which will underpin the upcoming legal action.

“It is clear that the AFL and the clubs have not implemented return-to-play protocols that protect the neurological health and safety of the players.”

Smith and footy legend Greg “Diesel” Williams have committed to donating their brains to Australia’s first sports-specific brain bank — a joint initiative between Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and Sydney University.

The bank will use the brains of deceased players from the AFL, NRL and rugby union to research the degenerative brain disease CTE — chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

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