AFL players call out serious flaws in gameday concussion testing

There are serious player concerns around one of the AFL’s hottest topics.

Returning to play from concussion has never been more stringent, but diagnosis on matchday in 2024 remains largely subjective, according to the game’s past and present players.

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Sports medicine expert Dr Peter Larkins has called the concussion tests club doctors give their players an “art” form, while some players believe they know how to pass the test.

“On the day, it’s very much an art still, the science isn’t solid,” Larkins said.

“Even these scat tests we hear about, every doctor will tell you, even the people who designed them will tell you, they’re not infallible.”

When a player is knocked out cold or the symptoms are obvious (as was the case with Melbourne’s Angus Brayshaw in last year’s finals series), the player is removed and there is no issue.

Angus Brayshaw was heavily KO’d during the finals last year which resulted in his retirement. Credit: AAP

However, line-ball calls prompt a test or quiz and players are asked questions such as ‘where are we’ and ‘who are we playing’ as part of the process to get them back on the field.

Doctors read out one of three different 10-word lists, and players then repeat as many words as possible.

The players’ answers are compared to baseline numbers that are set over the pre-season.

Richmond star defender Nick Vlastuin has revealed that players can anticipate the question and answer.

“I’ve actually done (the concussion test) a few times, so I know some of the words that are already coming and what you have to look out for,” Vlastuin told 7NEWS.

“(But) the doc, he’s very conservative with it, with all the news these days, you have to be.”

Neuroscientist Professor Alan Pearce said it was important to understand that “the familiarity of the test” could make things easy for players.

Former Collingwood and Hawthorn player Max Lynch had nine concussions before his 25th birthday.

Few are more qualified than him on the subject.

“There only seemed to be a couple of different variations of the tests … by the end of it I felt like I knew a lot of the words,” Lynch said.

“It’s only in the last few years that everyone’s taking it a lot more seriously so I’m sure the testing will change but definitely at the time being it’s pretty repetitive.”

In last year’s grand final, Collingwood defender Nathan Murphy passed his concussion test but subbed himself out.

“Yeah, (I) passed the test, but ran out and was just feeling no good,” he said at the time.

“That was purely me just calling it, it was just blurry vision.”

Larkins said that the testing was not going to be suddenly 100 per cent accurate next year but it could improve.

“It’s not that we’re going to have this foolproof by 2025, it’s just not going to happen,” Larkins said.

“So you’ve got to rely on your intuition, knowing the player well, and the player taking a responsible position for his own health and honest in his answers.”

Instant blood tests could be the future solution according to Prof. Pearce.

“You can’t fake a blood biomarker or you can’t fake a waveform in the same way that’s reliant on honesty,” he said.

“Having an objective marker, a player engages with that and goes … maybe I really am not right.”

– With Mitch Cleary

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