Darren Jarman, Shaun Smith, Shane Tuck and John Platten lead second AFL concussion class action lawsuit

“There are games I remember and there are games I don’t. I was beaten [playing for North Melbourne] in the ’87 elimination final – one of the few finals I’ve played in – and came back and played like I had a concussion. I don’t remember the game at all.

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“Sometimes it’s still an everyday suggestion for me. I’m one of the better ones – there are some players that don’t look like they’re coming back.

“If the AFL had been more open a decade ago we wouldn’t have this problem, or if players were told to get full and permanent disability insurance like I did, maybe they would be better off. I just want the AFL to stop hiding.”

The AFL has been contacted for comment. The league has made more than 30 changes to its concussion protocols, game rules, and arbitration policies over the past two decades.

It released its updated guidelines for 2023 this week, keeping the minimum break under return-to-play protocols for a player with a concussion at 12 days.

Katherine Tuck, Shane’s widow, and Griffin are involved in a court hearing over her husband’s suicide. A post-mortem found the former Tiger had suffered from CTE.

Jarman, the former Hawthorn and Crows star whose exploits in the last quarter earned Adelaide the Premiership title in 1997, is still suffering from the effects of a headbutt.

“Darren suffers from ongoing problems. He has suffered numerous headbutts. It works very well, it’s entertaining, but it still kind of struggles with headbutts and concussions,” Griffin said.

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Platten, Brownlow Medalist and Magarey Medalist, narrates Age Last year he had memory loss and headaches and fears CTE.

Griffin said he and his legal team consulted the world’s leading medical authority on concussion, Dr. Robert Cantu, recruited for the case. Cantu is Medical Director and Director of Clinical Research at the Cantu Concussion Center in Concord, Massachusetts.

“We have the players, their medical evidence and for the last three years we have analyzed open source AFL games and as a result of our video analytics games we can break down frame by frame that highlights the specific number of concussions players have suffered. and the failure of their clubs to either remove them from the pitch when they clearly have a concussion or allow them to return, in breach of a sane return-to-protocol approved by Dr. Cantu was created,” Griffin said.

“Since 1986, the AFL has known Cantu Return to Play protocols.”

The Griffin class action follows papers filed Tuesday by Margalit Injury Lawyers on behalf of players who were employed by one or more AFL clubs between 1985 and Tuesday and suffered either concussion or concussion damage.

Dual Geelong Premiership player Max Rooke is the lead plaintiff, who has suffered between 20 and 30 concussions. He is one of seven or more players involved in the action.

Western Bulldogs Premiership player Liam Picken and former Collingwood AFLW vice-captain Emma Grant have also launched separate cases over the past two weeks.

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Jess has repeatedly said that a class action lawsuit could have been avoided if the AFL had established a no-fault insurance fund for past players affected by Braun trauma. The AFL has been debating Gordon Legal over a concussion fund whose funds may be linked to a new collective bargaining agreement between players and the AFL.

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