Ty Zantuck’s court case against Richmond looming as a test case for injured footballers

A leading sports doctor says Ty Zantuck’s court case against Richmond could ‘open Pandora’s box’ for injured players.

A top sports medico says the Ty Zantuck Supreme Court damages claim against Richmond could open the floodgates for litigation against AFL clubs.

Lawyers for Zantuck, 39, lodged a statement of claim on Wednesday night alleging he received “15-20 epidurals” between 2002 and 2004 in a bid to get him on the field despite suffering a debilitating back injury.

He has since endured 17 operations on his spine, can no longer work and is battling permanent pain and depression.

It is understood the damages being sought against the Tigers and three club-affiliated doctors are in excess of $1 million.

Watch the 2021 Toyota AFL Premiership Season. Every match of every round Live on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-Days Free Now >

Dr Peter Larkins said the verdict in the Zantuck case loomed as a “great test case” for the game.

“There could be an absolute Pandora’s box of litigation against football clubs opened up here,” Larkins said.

“There are many players going back over the last 20 years who now have chronic medical conditions — it might be a hip, it might be a knee or their back.

“I’m not surprised this is happening because I think footy players are now realising that there could be a way of suing doctors — but you’ve got to be shown to be negligent or doing something that is out of step with your peers.

“You’ve got to look at what was contemporary, accepted treatment at the time.”

Ty Zantuck played 68 games with the Tigers.

Larkins said epidurals were common in football, but not usually within one or two days of a game.

“And that’s what Zantuck has got to prove — that what Richmond were doing was out of step with what other clubs were doing,” he said.

“If he gets up and can prove that for some reason that treatment should not have been done, you’ll have 10 other blokes saying, ‘Well, hang on. I’ve got a chronic back too and I’m now 50 and that is what happened to me? Why can’t I be successful?’.”

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick said at a press conference on Thursday it was hard for him to make comment because the matter was before courts.

“But what I will say is no people look after the players better than AFL doctors,” he said.

“I know our doctors here, and I have incredible support for them. They will not put our players at risk at any stage.

“They look after the health and wellbeing of our players as well as anyone.

“With concussion, as we see at the moment, doctors don’t make any questions, at the end of the day they do what’s required to look after the health and wellbeing of player safety, so from that point of view all I can do is support the AFL medical industry and say they do a wonderful job.”

Damien Hardwick says he has total faith in Richmond’s doctors.

Larkins said he knew of another star player who once received an epidural on the morning of a game.

“I’m serious. Can you believe that? They are an accepted, effective treatment of back pain, but most people will lie in bed for two days afterwards,” he said.

“It’s the right treatment for the right injury but if you have an epidural, in my opinion, you shouldn’t be playing that week — perhaps even a week later.

“So if you reckon concussion needs a 12-day rule, if your back is so bad with pain and nerve pain that you are having an epidural — then the time frame for it to work is 7-10 days, and then you should train lightly.”

Zantuck, who played 68 games for Richmond and another nine at Essendon in 2005, has previously warned the AFL’s next generation of players to steer clear of painkilling injections at all costs.

“I’ve laid in hospital for weeks at a time on ketamine and morphine drips and that can just drain the life out of you,” the father of two told the Herald Sun in 2018.