Collision that divided AFL raises the cost of concussion crisis
Former high-flying Melbourne football star Shaun Smith is determined to make the AFL pay, warning this week’s decision to clear Collingwood defender Brayden Maynard after a sickening collision with a rival player shows officials are still not taking concussion seriously enough.
The Maynard decision has divided the AFL world, as players, officials, club presidents and lawyers debate whether the knock-out blow was a “football act” and truly “unique” or whether the game is set to follow the $US1 billion ($1.55 billion) settlement used to resolve thousands of NFL concussion lawsuits.
Former Melbourne AFL star Shaun Smith, photographed for the AFR this week to highlight concerns over concussion. Eamon Gallagher
It follows a federal parliamentary inquiry which has recommended a number of urgent steps to confront concussion and head trauma in contact sports.
Smith is part of a landmark class action which includes more than 60 AFL players including the former Adelaide premiership star Darren Jarman, ex-ruckman John Barnes, the wife of the late Richmond player Shane Tuck and Hawthorn legend John Platten, who with his wife, emotionally revealed this week the extent of the damage he has suffered.
Smith, 54, suffered repeated concussions during his 109-game career for Melbourne and North Melbourne and in 2020, received a $1.4 million insurance payout after MLC Life Insurance recognised that he had suffered “total and permanent disablement”.
He says there have been 120 concussions this year, up by 16 per cent. He told AFR Weekend he has some idea how Platten feels.
“I have some pretty ordinary days and some better days, I feel sorry for the people around me, putting up with my shit and my mood swings,” Smith tells AFR Weekend.
“Tha
Read more on afr.com
