Concussion expert warns Will Pucovski not to rush back from latest head knock as career comes into question

‘The way he dropped to the ground raises alarm bells.’ A leading concussion expert says Will Pucovski ‘could save four to five years of his career’ if he doesn’t play in the first Test.

Will Pucovski has been urged to forget about making his Test debut in Adelaide next week, to reduce the risk of brain injuries forcing him into premature retirement.

The 22-year-old suffered his ninth concussion on Tuesday and leading expert Alan Pearce warned that Pucovski’s history of blows left him more susceptible to future concussions, which would take longer and longer to recover from.

“The way he dropped to the ground, and was on the ground for quite some time, certainly raises alarm bells,” Pearce said.

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“An extra couple of weeks’ rest could save four to five years of his career. If Will had to retire before he got started, that would be a tragedy.”

Pearce, an associate professor at La Trobe University and Victorian research manager from Australia’s sports brain bank, wants a mandatory lay-off to be enforced for all concussions.

Ideally that would be 28-30 days, which global research says is how long a concussion takes to fully recover, but Pearce conceded that was unrealistic.

“It’s hard to tell athletes, ‘Well, you’re going to be out for a month’ because what might happen is they’ll try to hide their symptoms,” he said. “We want them to be honest, so half that (14 days) is a starting point.

It’s not ideal, but it’s better than having a player come back way too soon and putting themselves at far more risk.

“To just say, ‘We’ll see if he’s ready for the next match in seven days’ is not doing the player a service for their long-term brain health.”

Pearce dispelled the myth that helmets protected the brain from concussion and explained why Pucovski’s pattern, similar to that endured by former St Kilda player Paddy McCartin (eight concussions), was troubling.

“It doesn’t seem to take as much impact to get another concussion, and they react even worse each time,” he said.

“So they don’t recover as quickly as they did previously. We think it may be due to a change in how the brain cells function. They seem to be disturbed, because concussion is a disturbance to neural function in the brain.”

Pucovski was struck on the helmet by Indian seamer Kartik Tyagi on Tuesday, 18 days before the Boxing Day blockbuster at the MCG. Pearce said if Pucovski showed no symptoms while training at high intensity before Boxing Day, he could be considered for selection in his home Test.

The young batsman is in the safe hands of Cricket Australia doctor John Orchard, who quickly ruled the opener out of Friday’s pink-ball tour game at the SCG.

Concussed Melbourne Football Club midfielder Angus Brayshaw spent two weeks recovering in a darkened room in 2017, but Pearce said closing the curtains only led to depression and warned Pucovski against that.

Instead light exercise and stimulation, so long as it didn’t trigger symptoms, was advised.

David Warner was officially ruled out of the first Test on Wednesday, but Australia is yet to give up on Pucovski.

Warner is targeting a Boxing Day return from a groin injury, however he won’t travel with the team on Wednesday to Adelaide as he continues his rehabilitation.

Pucovski will stay with the Australia A side for the coming days to continue his recovery from a mild concussion.

However, at this stage the plan is for him to still fly to Adelaide after the weekend. Australia has not yet named any replacement players for Warner, although Marcus Harris would appear likely to join the squad following his appearance for Australia A at the SCG on Friday.

A replacement player will join the Australia A side to take Pucovski’s place.

Mitchell Starc also won’t fly with the side to Adelaide on Wednesday due to family illness, and it’s yet to be confirmed when he will join the side.

Warner is putting all of his efforts into making a comeback at the MCG.

“I feel I have made great progress in a short amount of time and it’s best for me to stay here in Sydney to continue working on getting back to full fitness,” said Warner.

Herald Sun