AFL reveals smart move on head injuries

Sydney and Geelong will use smart mouthguards to measure contact in training and games, among a raft of measures to be rolled out as the league works towards potentially reducing contact in training sessions, league CEO Andrew Dillon says.

AFL CEO Andrew Dillon. Picture: Getty Images

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AFL chief Andrew Dillon has revealed the league is amping up the monitoring of head injuries in the game by piloting smart mouthguard measurements with two leading clubs this season.

The Sydney Swans and Geelong will use the mouthguards – which can measure the contact in training and games – among a raft of measures to be rolled out as the league works towards potentially reducing contact in training sessions.

“There’s no higher priority for myself, the Commission, than the health and safety of our AFL, AFLW and community players … while also acknowledging it’s a 360-degree contact sport, there’s no priority higher than the health and safety of the people,” Dillon told The Australian.

In an interview with The Australian covering the game’s burning issues, including head injuries, Dillon revealed how the code was exploring limiting contact in training and also spoke about the booming growth of the game in Queensland, which is posing a threat to rugby league in its traditional heartland.

While the AFL’s attendance, viewership and membership is higher than ever, the league’s push into Queensland has become a sharp focus but the game is also dealing with the challenge of head injuries.

Following the tragic death of former Richmond footballer Shane Tuck, Judge John Cain recommended the AFL introduce independent doctors, reduce contact training, introduce mandatory baseline testing, and deploy instrumented mouthguards to reduce the risk of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy.

Tuck, who took his life at age 38, was found to have the brain disease CTE – which is linked to repetitive head injuries.

In March last year, the league said it would “consider limiting contact training sessions at AFL and AFLW clubs, noting that the AFL already prohibits combat boxing and sparring”.

Dillon says their 10-year, $25m study into the long-term effects of head injuries on players will begin this year with two AFL clubs starting this season “as the pilot” and the rest following next year.

Former Richmond footballer Shane Tuck, who took his life at age 38, was was found to have the brain disease CTE. Picture: Getty Images

Dillon revealed to The Australian that two clubs – Sydney and Geelong – will be part of the initial study which includes the use of smart mouthguards to monitor the impact of the game.

“This ongoing research provides interesting data for us,” Dillon said. “What we are trying to do in the first instance (before formally considering reducing contact in training) is establishing a baseline of what everyone’s doing. Once you’ve got that you can overlay all the other data, the number of injuries and all those things. I think there will be learnings all the time.

“With contact in training, you don’t want to get ahead of what the data in training is telling you.”

Leading international sporting bodies like World Rugby and the National Football League in the US have already moved to limit contact in training. NFL players are only allowed to have padded practice 14 times during the regular season and a maximum of one per week during the play-offs.

While the AFL have not yet implemented independent doctors on the bench on a match day, they do now have independent doctors acting as concussion spotters in the AFL Review Centre (ARC) that can send messages directly to club doctors to address in real time.

The code recently announced that it will allow club doctors to stop play to take players off the field for head assessments this season. The league has acted to implement a new ‘HIA removal process’ which acts in a similar manner as the blood rule but for head injuries.

The league has told clubs there are two circumstances in which club doctors can request the umpires stop play to get a player off the field. Play will stop when a club receives a mandatory notification message from the ARC spotter for a detailed off-field assessment for a player. It will also stop when a club doctor determines he needs to conduct the preliminary HIA assessment rather than just by observing a player on the field.

“This season we are using our independent doctors that are in the AFL review centre, we have allowed them with more directory authority in relation to head injury assessments and being able to direct that a player be taken from the field.

“And that’s a new process that we announced last week, but again the work in concussion is ongoing.”

Last year an AFLPA report again confirmed that concussion continues to be the major issue for the AFL cohort, with 71 per cent stating they are “concerned” about the long-term effects.

The survey also showed 24 per cent (179 players) told the AFLPA they had experienced a concussion. And of those 179 players, 12 per cent said they did not report their symptoms (which equates to 21 players).

Meanwhile, the AFL enters the 2025 season with its popularity booming and the AFL’s CEO in his address at the Sports NXT conference on Wednesday spoke about the league breaking viewing and fan attendance.

It was a blockbuster year for the code with 8.25 million fans turning up to the grounds – more than double the number the NRL achieved last season (4.11 million).

The grand final clash between the Brisbane Lions and the Sydney Swans attracted an average TV audience of 4.02 million fans, nearly 600,000 more than last year’s Penrith Panthers and Melbourne Storm NRL decider.

“We had over 400 million hours of AFL watched on television last year — 40 per cent more hours watched than any other sport in Australia,” Dillon said.

“We had record attendance last year at our games. We had record club membership and a record participation at the community level as well.

“So the four big metrics for us were all at record levels and that’s on the back of a competition that’s incredibly competitive and equal with amazing athletes who are really well coached and drilled, and it’s a great game to watch, whether you’re live or watching on TV or on your phone or whatever.”

The AFL has made it clear they are aiming for 10 million fans and 1 million participants by 2033 and the sunshine state is proving to be a prosperous ground for growth.

In Queensland, the code is growing, particularly at the grassroots, and the league is currently pushing for a brand new 60,000-plus seat stadium in Brisbane. The Lions sold out their 37,000-seat stadium nine times last year. After last year’s premiership win they are expected to eclipse 70,000 members this season.

“Participation has been rising in the double digits for a number of years now and the Brisbane Lions are in an incredibly strong position, they have made finals six years in a row and their memberships have record highs,” Dillon said.

“On the Gold Coast, boys and girls play the game in record numbers. We are now seeing particularly on the Gold Coast, those boys and girls making through our elite talent pathway – so 20 per cent of our boys National Academy, which are the 17 year olds turning 18 in this year in the draft. [To have] 20 per cent of them are from the Gold Coast which is amazing when you think about it.

“They’re the boys that would have been six years older than the Gold Coast [franchise] started, so they sort of grown up with an elite team in their community, they’ve had something to … aspire to.

“The investment in Queensland really started in the late 90s, early 2000s now that you see the payback.”