The West Australian Football Commission to introduce three-step concussion policy in community football

The West Australian Football Commission will introduce a three-step concussion policy in community football this season. The WAFC will make a “strong recommendation” that players who suffer a third concussion in one season sit out the remainder of the football year in the Perth Football League, country football and juniors. A second concussion will require assessment by a specialist, not just a GP, before the player can return to play. The three-phase policy is a key plank of the WAFC’s revised action plan against concussion. “We have been talking about this for some time through the Concussion Action Plan,” the WAFC’s head of game development and community Troy Kirkham said. “This is one we have identified through the WA Concussion Network, a group of clinicians and medical experts that come together four times a year to talk about concussion. “The idea that you need more than just a GP, you need someone with a special interest or skill set around concussion management, if you are concussed for a second time and then the third step, we recommend you sit the season out.” Kirkham was confident it would not act as a deterrent to players or even coaches withholding the signposts of concussion so they could play on. “We are almost past that stage where you have people who aren’t going to hide it this days. There is still an element of it, but I believe people understand it due to the medical science around concussion now,” he said. The WAFC will spend $75,000 trialling 180 mouthguards that detect head trauma. Players from South Fremantle’s WAFL and WAFLW teams as well as juniors from Year 7 to Year 12 across the metropolitan area will test 180 of the HIT IQ mouthguards worth $500 each. The mouthguards are used by some AFL players and in world rugby but it is believed this is the first time they will be trialled at community level. HIT IQ’s sensor technology measures and records head impact “events”, providing rapid insights. “It measures the rotational forces of the body through this mouthguard. If you get a knock or you get bumped or tackled, it measures the acceleration of the head ultimately,” Kirkham said. “What that does is allows us to monitor players through the course of the year, not only the big knocks but also those subconcussive events. which might be minor knocks but accumulatively might cause some concern for players.” The mouthguard data is stored in a CSX program for reporting of concussions. which produces a digital record that can be shared with medical professionals, family and organisations to ensure coordinated athlete care. “It’s a great little research piece because it will enable us to work out data across the different age groups and where we are introducing tackling for the first time at Year 7 and at the upper end of Youth and also in the WAFL and WAFLW anmd it will be across male and female teams, not one or the other,” Kirkham said. The WAFL and WAFLW will also use the Blue Card system for the second successive year. The introduction of the card last year in the WAFL and WAFLW gave umpires the power to send players with suspected concussions or heavy head knocks off the field for a minimum of 15 minutes to undergo SCAT 5 testing by medical staff. The player responsible for the reportable offence and suspected injury are also be shown the Blue Card and sidelined for 15 minutes. There were 18 blue cards issued last year in the WAFL (13) and WAFLW (five). In every case, the offending player sent off was later suspended. Blue Cards will also be trialled in country leagues, possibly in the Wheatbelt. “The intent is to change the behaviour. We all know there is a duty of care between players and with this rule we want to reinforce that duty of care,” Kirkham said. The WA Country Football League will also operate a telehealth pilot program to help players access doctors and specialists online or by phone instantly when they are suffering from concussion. WA football at all levels operates under the National Concussion guidelines used by the AFL – an 11-phase process that can enable a player to return on the 12th day after suffering a concussion. In many cases it can take longer and a player must be cleared by a doctor to return to play. It follows news revealed in the West Australian this week the AFL could be hit by a second class action lawsuit on concussion within the next month. Personal injury firm Margalit Injury Lawyers lodged a class action against the AFL in the Supreme Court of Victoria on Tuesday, seeking compensation for alleged damage to 60 former players employed by one or more AFL clubs between 1985 and March 14, 2023, due to concussion. Dual Geelong premiership player Max Rooke is the lead plaintiff. Veteran player manager and concussion advocate Peter Jess and Adelaide lawyer Greg Griffin are also acting on behalf of more than 100 former players.