Adelaide Crows utility Scott Stevens was forced to retire in 2011 due to severe headaches caused by concussions. Picture: Sarah Reed. Source: The Advertiser
FOOTBALL'S lawmakers are on the brink of introducing a concussion substitute rule after identifying head trauma as the most concerning issue in the game.
As the league yesterday released the 2012 AFL injury report, a recommendation from the clubs' doctors is in front of the Laws of the Game Committee to alter the interchange rules to further protect players.
The recommendation from the doctors is that a player who is suspected of having a concussion can be substituted immediately.
But if he is later found to not be concussed, the decision can be reversed.
It comes as club doctors have also recommended that concussion tests are left for longer, with players re-tested after 10 minutes as research suggests head injuries tend to get worse over time.
The Laws of the Game Committee met yesterday to consider a recommendation from the AFL Medical Officers' Association for a concussion substitute.
The rule would allow a player who is suspected to have a concussion to be replaced by the substitute player while he is tested, so that a team would not suffer from restricted rotations.
Adelaide's Kurt Tippett and West Coast's Beau Waters on the ground after a clash last year. Picture: Simon Cross.
But if that player is found to not have concussion after the tests, the club will be allowed to switch back, with the substitute player returning to the bench.
Discussions between doctors and lawmakers will include scenarios in which a substitute player has already been activated, with one potential solution being to activate an emergency player.
Crows doctor Andrew Potter, who was part of the advisory panel for the report, outlined the reasons for the recommendations.
"It takes the pressure off us a bit to make rapid decisions, which may in the end be - albeit made in the right spirit - the incorrect decision," Potter said.
"If we're absolutely sure that they've suffered from some sort of trauma to brain function - not brain substance - then you will diagnose concussion," Potter said.
"If you're not sure, then you will bring them off. The guidelines from Zurich (The 2012 International Conference on Concussion in Sport) suggest that we rest them for 10 minutes before we actually re-test them.
"So there's a longer exclusion time before we make an assessment.
"In a lot of these cases, they actually get worse with time; the injury actually evolves with time."
The incidence of concussion per club grew from 0.2 in 2003 to 0.5 in 2010, before doubling to 1.1 in 2011 and 1.0 last season.
The amount of games missed hovered from 0.6 to 0.8 between 2003 and 2010 before jumping to 2.2 and 1.6 in 2001 and 2012 respectively.
But the AFL yesterday said much of those figures could be attributed to a more conservative approach.
"The rise in concussion incidence over the last two years in the AFL corresponds with a worldwide trend amongst many sports to recognise the potential long-term effects of concussion and the adoption of a more conservative approach with return-to-play decisions," the report said.
"Concussion has been an area of focus for the AFL for a number of decades, and current AFL practices for the management of such injuries are consistent with international best practice.
"AFL guidelines state that no player diagnosed with or suspected of having concussion should take any further part in the match, and players are strongly encouraged by clubs to report all instances of suspected concussion
"The AFL remains strongly committed to player welfare and has introduced several law and tribunal changes in recent years to reduce the risk of head and neck injury such as a reduced tolerance of head-high contact, stricter policing of dangerous tackles, and the introduction of rules to penalise a player who makes forceful contact to another player with his head over the ball."
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