Coroner calls for brain research following death of Danny Frawley

A Victorian coroner is calling for more research into the effects of blows to the head during sport, following the death of AFL champion Danny Frawley.

Handing down her findings into Frawley’s death on Tuesday, coroner Paresa Spanos revealed a post-mortem analysis of Frawley’s brain found he had low-stage chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) – a form of brain disease linked to repeated blows to the head.

Danny Frawley took his own life in 2019.Credit: Getty

She said researching the impacts of contact sports on the brains of AFL players could save lives as there was currently “insufficient knowledge” about the extent to which CTE produces neurological dysfunction, in part because of a lack of research in Australia and internationally.

A diagnosis of CTE can only be determined after death and is associated with mood and behavioural changes and occasionally cognitive and memory impairment.

“Mr Frawley’s mental state began deteriorating in the months before his death and appeared to coincide with ceasing his medication and several psychosocial stressors,” Ms Spanos wrote.

“Like many players, Mr Frawley began his football career in his formative years, and likely experienced head trauma while his brain was still developing.

“As such, it is difficult to evaluate the contribution of CTE to personality, behaviours, any cognitive deficits, or emotion over a lifetime.

“CTE can only be diagnosed post-mortem, it is impossible to establish at what point CTE began and whether this coincided with any changes in mood or behaviour.”

Mr Spanos did ultimately find that CTE was a potential contributor to the depression that Frawley suffered in the years preceding his death.

Frawley – a former AFL player, coach and football commentator – took his own life in 2019. He was 56.

The coronial investigation found Frawley had a history of mental health issues and in the period immediately preceding his death had experienced personal and professional stressors and an exacerbation of the anxiety and depression he had been suffering for five years.

Frawley played 240 AFL games between 1984 and 1995 and was captain of the St Kilda Football Club for nine seasons. During his career, he sustained about 20 concussions, including losing consciousness, severe headaches and vision problems, the investigation found.

He was admitted to the Epworth Hospital’s emergency department due to his concussions five or six times. During these incidents, he experienced vomiting and was unable to lift his head. Despite this, Mr Frawley always returned to the playing field the following week.

Danny Frawley is chaired off after his last game for St Kilda.Credit: Vince Caligiuri

As part of her recommendations, Ms Spanos is calling on the AFL and AFLPA to actively encourage players, and their legal representatives after their death, to donate their brains to the Australian Sports Brain Bank for research into CTE.

Studies have suggested at least 17 per cent of people who experience repetitive concussions or mild traumatic brain injury develop the condition.

But the condition remains largely not fully understood and there is no agreement currently in place for staging the severity of CTE pathology.

Ms Spanos’ findings also found no strong causal link had been established between the condition and suicide.

Her report said that after Frawley was a coach at Collingwood between 1996 and 2000 he was appointed senior coach of Richmond until 2004.

Danny Frawley.Credit: Hamish Blair

It was there, the coroner found, that Frawley began to suffer significant distress and his history of mental illness began.

In 2014, he started seeing a psychiatrist as his family made plans to transition away from football and Frawley’s work as a commentator.

But in late 2018 he briefly stopped taking his medication without the supervision of his treating psychiatrist, stopped attending appointments and reported having significant stressors in his life at that time. This included a feeling his star power was dimming with the emergence of new media personalities.

Frawley returned to his doctor on September 6, 2019. He died three days later.

In memory: Richmond players run through the banner dedicated to AFL great Danny Frawley.Credit: Wayne Ludbey

An AFL spokesman acknowledged the findings and thanked the Frawley family for the decision to donate his brain to advance medical research.

“Consistent with the recommendation made by the coroner in the report released today, we encourage other players and their families to make a similar decision to help with the betterment of this research,” the spokesman said.

“We continue to support further research being undertaken to assist us taking action, including by further rule changes, to protect the head and the overall health and safety of Australian footballers at all levels.”

Currently, the Australian Sports Commission recommends any athlete with a suspected concussion should be removed from the sport, medically assessed, monitored and not return to play on the day of the injury.

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