Adopting American NFL rules could help reduce head knocks in AFL

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A world-leading expert in brain injuries in sport had signalled the AFL could investigate the widespread use of helmets and mouthguards with inbuilt sensors to track head knock counts over a persons entire career, including at both junior and senior levels of football.

Full contact training sessions could also be dramatically slashed to protect players from cumulative head knocks with similar major rules changes in the USA’s National Football League contributing to a 60 per cent reduction in brain trauma.

Shane Tuck in action for Richmond in 2012.Credit: Fairfax Photographic

Neurosurgeon Robert Cantu, who has been working in the field of sport-related head injuries for over 40 years, told an inquest into the death of former AFL great Shane Tuck that slashing the number of full contact training sessions – from triweekly to only 14 sessions during the NFL’s on-season and eliminating them in the off-season – had been the greatest help in reducing head contact.

In the US, he said research showed football players could expect to receive up to 20,000 hits to the head over a 15-year playing career.

“[Headgear] is an area of research the AFL may want to pursue. Along with investigating and recording the total number of hits these people are taking,” Cantu said.

“I think with regard to concussion [the AFL] is doing a very fine job. All of us can do better, but they’re doing a very fine job.”

Cantu, who appeared at the inquest via video link from the US, also flagged that it could be appropriate for the AFL to forcibly retire players itself in an effort to properly safeguard players, rather than leaving the decision-making up to an individual team. Though he noted, not all agreed with this stance.

State Coroner John Cain is investigating the death of AFL great Shane Tuck, 38, who took his own life following a decorated career in the AFL.

A post-mortem examination found he had severe chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) at the time of his death – a type of brain degeneration thought to be caused by repeated head traumas.

A neuropathologist at the Australian Sports Brain Bank later found Tuck had the most severe case of CTE they had seen.

Tuck is one of five former AFL footballers to be diagnosed with CTE after their deaths, including Graham “Polly” Farmer, Danny Frawley and Murray Weideman.

While commending the work the AFL had taken in changing its rules and regulations around head blows in recent years, Cantu said more focus was needed on reducing the likelihood of players developing CTE rather than single instances of concussions, with repeated non-symptomatic head knocks also contributing to conditions.

This could include, he said, mannequins or bags being used in training to reduce head contact.

Cantu, who is also director of clinical research at the Cantu Concussion Centre in Massachusetts and senior advisor to America’s NFL, said not all concussions were equal – with the prolonged length of symptoms and how close together repeated concussions occur – particularly within weeks of each other – of most concern.

Shane Tuck on the ground after being knocked out during a boxing match after his retirement from AFL.Credit: Getty

Repeated head trauma, from both head knocks and concussion, was the leading contributor to developing CTE, he said.

“The general concept is the more repetitive traumas to the head somebody takes the greater their risk of CTE,” Cantu said.

He said an additional focus on reducing all head contact would be a “good thing” for the AFL to work towards to make the game safer at both a professional and community level.

This, he said, could include pursuing whether helmets could be used to reduce head trauma, noting the USA used tracking devices in headgear and mouth guards to help track a players head knock count.

He noted though, some helmets could make it difficult to see players facial expressions and eye movements from the sidelines to make an assessment about whether a person might’ve been concussed.

The inquest heard sensor devices to help detect head knocks was something the AFL had already recently begun testing.

Earlier, the inquest heard as Tuck’s health deteriorated from 2006 to 2018, he began hearing voices and was eventually hospitalised after experiencing hallucinations, suicidal thoughts and voices commanding him to kill himself.

Tuck had a decorated AFL career, playing 173 games with Richmond from 2004 to 2013. He then spent several years as a professional boxer.

The coroner is expected to investigate whether Tuck suffered concussion and head injuries during his AFL and professional boxing careers; what, if any, connection can be established between those injuries and his diagnosis of CTE; and what connection, if any, can be established between Tuck’s CTE diagnosis and his death.

The inquest continues.

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