Former AFL star Shaun Smith and his family are still feeling the consequences of the multiple concussions he suffered. He says the latest collision that has split the AFL world shows officials are not doing enough.
, 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., 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 settlement used to resolve thousands of NFL concussion lawsuits.
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”.AFR Weekend“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“That’s the reality.
South Australian-based lawyer Greg Griffin is leading the class action with Smith and others and says it is the most important discussion in modern Australian sport.“The class actions should not pose an existential threat to the game,” Mr Griffin says. “Without our players, we don’t have a game.” But he says former players never received the same protections and that “the system is still fragile because it still lays in the hands of club doctors” while in the US there are independent neurosurgeons.
Ms Margalit expects many more players to come forward, noting many of the symptoms, including memory loss and anger are confusing and men have been ashamed to come forward. She also argues professional sporting people have also been unfairly excluded from workcover claims.
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