AFL world reacts to new detail about Danny Frawley’s death

The AFL community has responded to the revelation brought to light about Danny Frawley’s death, which serves as a message for all.

The footy world has been quick to react after the jarring revelation AFL icon Danny Frawley was suffering from stage two chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) at the time of his death.

CTE is a degenerative brain disease found in people with a history of head trauma and is becoming more of a discussion point in contact sports where athletes are faced with the risk of concussion.

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Frawley, who played 240 games for St Kilda and coached Richmond from 2000-2004, died last September in a one-vehicle car crash the day after his 56th birthday.

Frawley suffered from depression and was a vocal advocate for people to pay attention to their mental health. His wife Anita wanted to go public with the CTE news to raise further awareness about the issue, telling the Herald Sun she “strongly suspected there was more going on with Danny than straightforward depression”.

The AFL released a statement saying it had been made aware of Frawley’s condition earlier this year. CEO Gillon McLachlan thanked Frawley’s family for donating his brain to scientific research and informing the league of his CTE diagnosis.

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“Danny’s family ensured that his passing served as a message to many people — men in particular — on the importance of listening and learning to each other and ensuring that our friends and families are coping,” McLachlan said.

“In the same way his family — like the family of Graham ‘Polly’ Farmer – have again provided us the opportunity to continue to learn from Danny. I have spoken to Anita and said we will work with the Brain Bank and other researchers to better understand this disease and its impact.

“In our discussions Anita has been really clear that she wants the learnings from Danny’s death to continue to provide a benefit to sport and we will continue to work with Anita and the family and researchers to learn as much as we can and to continue to make whatever changes are necessary to keep the people who play our game safe.”

GARRY LYON WEIGHS IN

Danny Frawley was loved by everyone in footy.

Anita called Frawley’s friend and media colleague Garry Lyon on Monday night to let him know news of her husband’s CTE would be made public on Tuesday.

The Melbourne legend said while the diagnosis won’t make up for Frawley’s loss, it can at least provide his family with answers about why he was behaving differently in the final stages of his life.

“In lots of ways it’s not that surprising when you look at it,” Lyon said on SEN Breakfast.

“I know from a family point of view it’s given them a little bit of clarity in terms of trying to explain some of his changed behaviours later in life.

“He was the great, fun-loving character. Probably a lot of that was hiding some of the pain that he was going through, clearly.

“He would front up to work, professionally, and be the fun-loving character … but privately if you talk to Anita she said that he was a different man.

“That won’t make it easier for her … for the family it makes sense because he ended up not being the Danny that they knew and loved.

“They would have been asking questions as to why and this gives them some clarity and understanding, I would have thought.”

Lyon said he wasn’t always aware of Frawley’s mood swings, suggesting he put up a front to hide his issues from his mates.

He also said more work needs to be done when it comes to the impacts of concussion, and is looking forward to the day when footy players — not worried about having their courage questioned — would rule themselves out of games if they weren’t 100 per cent right after a head knock.

“When we get to the stage where a player runs around pre-game and thinks he’s right but then maybe he’s got a bit of a headache or he’s not focusing or he’s not concentrating, and just runs off and says, ‘No I’m not right’ — that’s when we’ll start to see real progress,” Lyon said.

‘CONFRONTING’ REVELATION BUT TIMES ARE CHANGING

Jordan Lewis is happy to see attitudes are shifting.

Ex-Hawthorn player, now Carlton’s AFLW coach, Daniel Harford, told RSN radio it was “quite confronting” to read the revelations about Frawley.

“I certainly read it with interest,” Harford said. “I’m not sure I get concerned because I’m fairly pragmatic about these sorts of things.

“What’s happened has happened, there’s not too much you can do about it.

“I’ve had more than a few nasty whacks — I’m not concerned but I certainly pay attention.”

Former Hawthorn and Melbourne star Jordan Lewis has tried to prove his toughness by coming back onto the ground after a concussion when he clearly wasn’t right to do so, but believes attitudes are changing.

The 34-year-old, who retired last season, is hopeful more players will start to realise their long-term health is more important than winning a footy game.

“I think about it now and I quiver because it just seems so ridiculous that you would even think that (continuing to play) in a time after being involved in a heavy hit like that,” Lewis told SEN Breakfast.

“It changed my whole thinking around concussion and how I viewed it and how I viewed players coming back on.

“The culture has certainly shifted from being a badge of honour, to get knocked out or come back on after a heavy hit, to being more a conversation around, you’ve got to be serious about what you’re thinking.

“What could be the short-term or long-term effects? Those conversations were happening in the latter part of my career, which I think is good to see.”