The AFL is not doing enough to manage concussion and the long-term effects of brain trauma, Anita Frawley, the widow of AFL player and coach Danny Frawley, has told a parliamentary inquiry.
Giving evidence at a hearing of the federal senate committee inquiry into concussions and repeated head trauma in contact sports, Frawley described the circumstances of her husband’s suicide in 2019, and the posthumous finding that he had suffered from stage two chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the debilitating neurodegenerative disease caused by repeated head trauma which is increasingly linked to long-term exposure to contact sports.
Frawley said the AFL had been “fantastic” in caring for her family, which had been involved with the league for 30 years, after her husband passed away, but that they needed do more for other players.
“I’m not against them. I want them to do something. They’re not doing enough. And I stated that before. I don’t know why – I don’t know whether it’s fear, or waiting for someone to do it 10 years down the track. I’m just not sure. But it is time,” Frawley said.
“For me, this is not about blame or justice seeking. It’s simpler than that. It’s just about care. Caring for the human beings that have given their lives to the sport.”
AFL senior executives told the inquiry on Wednesday morning that the league does not regret the way it has managed concussion in the past, but acknowledged that its understanding of brain injury has “changed over time”.
AFL general manager Andrew Dillon was asked by Greens senator Janet Rice if the AFL had any regrets about the way the league had managed brain injury in the past.
“I don’t think regret is the word that we would use,” Dillon said. “We certainly acknowledge that there’s been an evolution of knowledge and understanding of concussion over time. We appreciate that there are former players that are having difficulties and we’re seeking to put in place increased support for them.”
The AFL is facing two class action lawsuits from former players and their families. One features more than 60 former players who sustained concussions during their careers led by former Geelong player Max Rooke. The other is led by Katherine Tuck, wife of late Richmond player Shane Tuck, who was one of numerous former players found after his early death to have had chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
Asked about the increased level of support promised to players in the context of the class actions, Dillon said: “Our intent is to provide a pathway to an increased level of financial assistance to those former players who suffered a serious injury, to assist them later in life. So there may be an overlap between persons who may be assisted and those who are seeking compensation as part of those actions, but at the moment, it’s quite unclear how that litigation will proceed.”
Last week the AFL Players’ Association claimed in its submission to the inquiry that it was kept in the dark for more than six months about the AFL’s plans to review the clinical care and financial assistance for past players who suffered long-term effects from concussion and other career-ending injuries on the field, despite the league pledging to take urgent action on the matter after its review into the work of its former concussion adviser, neurologist Paul McCrory.
The review came after numerous allegations of academic plagiarism against McCrory and reporting by Guardian Australia investigating what had become of the concussion research that McCrory had led on behalf of the league.
Dillon told the inquiry the AFL would soon publicly release its update on the responses to the recommendations of the review, “including the way in which we deal with governance at the AFL with respect to concussion research and management”.
The review’s findings were released in October last year, with the AFL apologising to past players involved in the league’s unpublished and abandoned study.
The AFL’s chief medical officer, Michael Makdissi, told the inquiry there had been shifts in the culture of the AFL over recent years with regard to concussion management, but “I don’t think we’re there yet. I think we need continued education.”
Makdissi and Dillon estimated that about 70 to 80 of the 820 male AFL players every year received a concussion, but noted that player underreporting of symptoms was still a problem.
Of particular concern were community levels of the sport, where data was scant and education structures far less robust.
Pressed by Senator Louise Pratt to estimate how many concussions were sustained by the approximately 500,000 non-elite Australian rules footballers every year, Makdissi and Dillon said they relied on external data for that, taking the question on notice.
The Senate inquiry was established in the wake of increasing public concern, including ongoing reporting by Guardian Australia, about sporting organisations’ management of player head injuries and the large and growing body of scientific evidence showing links between repeated exposure to head injury in contact sports and neurodegenerative disease.
The hearing continues.
In Australia, support is available at Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636, Lifeline on 13 11 14, and at MensLine on 1300 789 978. In the UK, the charity Mind is available on 0300 123 3393 and ChildLine on 0800 1111. In the US, Mental Health America is available on 800-273-8255
