Australia’s top athletes push for comprehensive concussion study

THE nation’s athletes have united to call on their respective codes to fund the most comprehensive concussion study embarked upon in Australian sporting history.

THE nation’s athletes have united to call on their respective codes to fund the most comprehensive concussion study embarked upon in Australian sporting history.

The call comes amid a spate of AFL retirements through repeated head knocks and the dramatic legal suit from retired NRL player James McManus against his own club.

Australian Athletes Alliance chairman Ian Prendergast said it was time for the nation’s sports codes to fund an independent, far-reaching study.

Former Newcastle star James McManus has launched legal action against the NRL over his concussion injuries. Picture: Brett Costello

The AAA represents AFL, rugby league, rugby union, NBL, soccer, netball and jockeys and covers 3500 athletes across the country.

As codes fear the fallout from actions like McManus’s law suits, Prendergast said the call was “not about bringing sport to its knees”.

Instead if researchers can find out more about concussion’s long-term effects they may be able to even reduce its harmful impact upon diagnosis.

In the dark ... Young @melbournefc star reveals extent of his concussion battle last year - https://t.co/8xWNYCSOFq @MaccaHeraldSun pic.twitter.com/FrKf9cJ0rs

— SuperFooty (AFL) (@superfooty) March 2, 2017

It is understood the chief medical officers of those codes are open to meeting to consider a study that would work on the areas of research most needed.

Players from all codes could be concurrently subjected to tests using various scanning techniques, blood testing and technology including movement sensors.

St Kilda power forward Paddy McCartin has suffered several concussion incidents. Picture: Getty Images

Only this week Britain’s four soccer associations announced they would fund independent research to detect whether soccer players who repeatedly headed the ball were more prone to dementia.

“There is a case for change with all sports coming to the table with athletes to ensure that collectively they are able to commit to a significant longitudinal study on concussion,’’ Prendergast said.

“At the moment individual sports are doing their own thing but to have a more significant impact it needs to be done on a national basis.

“It would be multi-modal in terms of the battery of tests and methods used to look at the issue from all angles.

.@sebjross will be wearing this behind his ear as part of a concussion study the AFL is running to measure head movement during collisions. pic.twitter.com/MAWh5YSW7p

— St Kilda FC (@stkildafc) March 4, 2017

“It would come up with a way to monitor both short-term and long-term impacts of the injury.

“In particular we could find ways to not only support the player impacted but introduce proactive methods and treatments to stop the impact of concussion in its tracks and reverse it altogether.”

There are some concussion studies on Australian codes but many lack impartiality because they are funded and controlled by codes scared of legal action.

Prendergast said a less adversarial approach based on helping athletes rather than fear of class actions would help both codes and their players.

“It’s not about bringing sport to its knees,’’ he said.

“In my view we protect sport more than we currently are if we can find out additional information about the impact of concussions,’’ he said.

“It better informs our thinking about how to ensure sport is as safe as it can be. It is nothing to be concerned about, it’s something we should be all embracing.”

Originally published as Australia’s top athletes push for comprehensive concussion study