Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan urges ‘overhaul’ of concussion dealings

A leading AFL coach believes there is too much responsibility on clubs to deal with concussion incidents appropriately.

Harris Andrews will miss Saturday’s QClash after entering concussion protocols. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan has called for an “overhaul” of the AFL’s handling of concussion incidents by improving and reducing the lines of communication needed for an affected player to leave the field.

The Lions remain under investigation having been sent a please explain letter this week by the AFL after it took several minutes – across two quarters – for co-captain Harris Andrews to be taken from the field due to a delay in communication following a third-quarter incident with Sydney’s Joel Amartey in Brisbane’s two-point win over the Swans last Sunday at the Gabba.

Fagan initially thought Andrews was winded from a hit to the ribs before being told by AFL House more than eight minutes into the final quarter to take the key defender off the field for a concussion assessment.

Andrews passed a compulsory SCAT6 test and was allowed to return to action, only to be concussed in a separate incident in the dying stages, leading to him being ruled out of Saturday’s QClash at People First Stadium.

Lions coach Chris Fagan wants the AFL’s handling of concussion matters to be overhauled. Picture: Chris Hyde/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

“Regardless of what happens, I think there needs to be a better way to communicate things on field so that decisions can be made more quickly,” said Fagan, who wants the AFL Review Committee to make direct contact with the on-field umpires.

“The umpires are miked up, (so) why can’t somebody who’s watching the game and sees the vision talk to the umpires and say ‘stop the game, that guy needs to go off’.

“That would take a lot of unnecessary investigations, inquiries, fines, all those things out of it.

“We need to have an overhaul of the whole system to make it easier on clubs and take a bit of responsibility away from us because I, as the coach, don’t get any say in the decision.

“I just get told ‘that player’s got concussion, he’s coming off’. Of course I’m disappointed that the player’s coming off but we know player safety comes first and foremost.

“I just think it’s a bit of a messy process at the moment. It could be tidied up a lot. All the lines of communication could be taken out and just given to the umpires.”

As a result of the incidents across last weekend, the AFL confirmed club football managers would now get “in real time, the mandatory off-field assessment” notifications from the independer medical spotters, alters that the club doctors currently receive via the ARC medical tablet and mobile phone.

All club football bosses are currently authorised device users so can access and use mobile phones.

Fagan, who coaches from the bench rather than from a box in the grandstand, said it was difficult to determine the severity of an injury from his sideline position.

“I sit down on the bench every week and it’s really hard sometimes to see whether a bloke’s got a knock that could have caused a bit of concussion,” he said.

“There’s a lot of noise as well, and I know it’s reliant on communication from the AFL, so the phone has got to go ‘ping’. On the weekend, like most weeks at the Gabba when the place is full, you can’t hear anything.”
The Lions are still awaiting the AFL’s response to their submission explaining the club’s handling of the Andrews incident.