A culture prioritising mental toughness over player welfare is preventing local footballers from correctly managing head injuries.
Athletes are becoming increasingly aware of the side effects of repeated concussions, but many continue to play on after suffering head knocks, rather than seeking treatment.
Deakin University School of Psychology senior lecturer, Dr Alan Pearce, said that while major sporting bodies had significantly improved concussion policies, a combination of poor player attitude and a lack of medical staff meant implementation at football’s lower levels remained an issue.
“When [players] get a head knock, they won’t admit to getting a knock because they want to play and they know that they should have a rest and miss the following week,” Dr Pearce said.
“The other reason is that you just have a lack of medical people – most clubs will have a trainer and most of the time they’re trying to deal with strapping of ankles etc.
“They’re just going full on all the time with the guys on the sidelines that they won’t even notice when someone gets a head knock.”
Following a conference tackling the issue of concussion in sport earlier this year, the AFL released a series of guidelines on its community club website, which is available to the general public.
The documents – targeting clubs, players, fitness staff and parents – state players who suffer a concussion, or are suspected of having a concussion, should not return to their sporting activity until they are cleared by a doctor.
“Personally I don’t know if it’s actually got through to the coalface at that amateur or semi-professional level because they don’t have the people there to recognise what’s going on,” Dr Pearce said.
“The boys and the girls at that level just want to play … they just want to go out there and go in hard and maybe don’t recognise the ramifications [of doing so.]”
Amateur football club Hampton Rovers recently entered a groundbreaking research partnership with Dr Pearce, with 40 players undergoing brain scans after every match.
Club Senior President Matthew Gray said the club decided to take part in the study after learning of players suffering from concussion-related issues years after retirement.
“We identified that there’s an issue with repetitive head injuries and the long term effects,” Gray said.
“Once we sort of explained what we were doing and why we were doing it, the players came on board straight away.”
The study aims to monitor player brain activity throughout the season, with repeat testing taking place over the course of a week when individuals report a heavy knock to the head.
While the study has given players a greater understanding of the seriousness of brain injury, many still take pride in throwing their bodies around on the field with little regard for their future health.
“There’s a real culture of bravery around local sport and local football in particular,” Gray said.
“Somebody who gets knocked down, for them to continue playing they’re seen as heroes – I think that’s where the issue lies.
“When a player does suffer a head injury they’re not thinking straight – they might think they’re alright … but it’s quite evident that they’re not quite with it.”
A major barrier to correct concussion treatment is the lack of a definitive test, something Gray and Dr Pearce hope will be developed as a result of the Hampton study.
Gray said while players will generally rest other injuries, the absence of any visual indication of head knocks had proven a key barrier to players recognising the seriousness of concussion.
“The issue is if you get a head knock you don’t bandage your head or anything, whereas you’d bandage a shoulder or a knee,” Gray said.
“If players [with concussion] understood the detriment that they cause to the team, I think they’d take it more seriously.”
Frankston coach Simon Goosey played more than 300 games of both professional and local football over his career, copping roughly 150 hits to the head in the process.
While he often continued playing after knocks without suffering post-match headaches, Goosey said he would be open to brain testing with a view to his future mental health.
“It’d be interesting to go and look at people’s heads from my era – back then… I used to get hit every couple of games,” Goosey said.
“When I was younger in particular, you’d get the fullback smashing his fist into your head instead of the ball.”
Gray said while he believes professional football has made significant progress in tackling the issue of concussion, increased player education from the grassroots level was the key to changing the overall culture.
The Hampton project will continue throughout the season, while Dr Pearce is also looking to recruit retired male and female footballers for a second study looking at the effects of head injuries later in life.
