Two leading neurologists and a former player who retired because of concussion believe some aspects of the AFL’s match-day tests for assessing potential brain injuries should be improved to prevent manipulation by players.
Amid hopes for a blood test that could provide more accurate diagnoses, experts say visible symptoms should more often rule players out of a game because the recall tests used to assess concussion could be memorised.
Their comments follow Collingwood premiership defender Nathan Murphy’s grand final day concussion, after which he told this masthead he ruled himself out because he was experiencing blurred vision and had previously sustained delayed concussions.
Murphy said he knew the testing process “off by heart”, which enabled him to pass the assessment more easily.
The 23-year-old’s game effectively ended after he head crashed into Brisbane Lions forward Lincoln McCarthy’s left shoulder late in the opening quarter of the Magpies’ four-point triumph.
The experts, La Trobe University Professor Alan Pearce and Macquarie University neurologist Rowena Mobbs, said they hoped Murphy’s decision could be a turning point in concussion education.
Club doctors use video to assess incidents and run thr
Two leading neurologists and a former player who retired because of concussion believe some aspects of the AFL’s match-day tests for assessing potential brain injuries should be improved to prevent manipulation by players.
Amid hopes for a blood test that could provide more accurate diagnoses, experts say visible symptoms should more often rule players out of a game because the recall tests used to assess concussion could be memorised.
Their comments follow Collingwood premiership defender Nathan Murphy’s grand final day concussion, after which he told this masthead he ruled himself out because he was experiencing blurred vision and had previously sustained delayed concussions.
Murphy said he knew the testing process “off by heart”, which enabled him to pass the assessment more easily.
The 23-year-old’s game effectively ended after he head crashed into Brisbane Lions forward Lincoln McCarthy’s left shoulder late in the opening quarter of the Magpies’ four-point triumph.
The experts, La Trobe University Professor Alan Pearce and Macquarie University neurologist Rowena Mobbs, said they hoped Murphy’s decision could be a turning point in concussion education.
