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Nic Nat Retires

Nic Skies at tip (Woodley/AFANA)

West Coast ruckman Nic Naitanui has retired. Nic, 33, was contracted through 2024 but has not played this season due to an Achilles injury. He played just eight games in 2022 due to knee injuries. In making the announcement, NIc said, "I feel like I have exhausted every avenue to work my way through my injury, but my body is sending a strong message that it is time ... I’m content in the knowledge that I have given it everything ... Being a power athlete who has relied on my ability to jump throughout my career this injury was probably going to take that away from me. I am also looking at a lengthy rehabilitation from my latest surgery and there are no guarantees of making it back to AFL level even if everything goes to plan." He said he had given plenty of thought about his future and decided retirement was the best decision. Simpson also described him as one of the all-time great ruckmen.

Coach Adam Simpson said, "Nic has been a legacy player for our football club and has been one of the most influential players of his generation ... it is the end of an era and we will certainly miss Nic. In the last couple of years when he has been limited in the amount of games he has played his impact around the group has remained significant. There have been few ruckmen in history to have a bigger impact on the game and he will always hold a special place in the history of the club." He was also a marketing powerhouse for the club as well as a multicultural ambassador."

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Concussion Claims Crow

Seedsman to Kick (file photo)

Adelaide wingman Paul Seedsman has announced his retirement after 132 AFL games spread across 13 seasons. Seedsman, 31, has been on the inactive list for the past two seasons due to ongoing concussion symptoms. He suffered a bad head knock during the 2022 preseason training. He played 83 games for the Crows after 49 games at Collingwood. His decision to retire follows a recommendation from an independent AFL medical concussion panel that he no longer participate in contact sport. 

Seedsman said while he was disappointed his AFL career had come to an end, it was in the best interest of his health and wellbeing. 

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Concussion Claims Swan

McCartin vs Blues (Densham/AFANA)

Sydney's Paddy McCartin last played in early April due to concussion issues. He has been forced to retire after consulting with an independent AFL medical concussion panel. McCartin, 27, has suffered over a dozen concussions in his career and his playing days were thought to be over when he left St Kilda at the end of 2019 after playing 35 games. He spent some time in Sydney's VFL team before being added to the senior list in 2022. He managed just 28 games for the Swans in two seasons.

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AFL Facing Concussion Class Action Lawsuit

Picken Kicks a Goal (file photo)

In mid-March, Melbourne law firm Margalit Injury Lawyers filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of over 60 former players, seeking compensation for the concussions they suffered during their careers and the resultant post-concussion issues they have suffered since. The players include former premiership player Max Rooke (Geelong), Shaun Smith (Melbourne), Liam Picken (Western Bulldogs) and Darren Jarman (Adelaide and Hawthorn). The widow of the late Shane Tuck has also signed on in the suit. Smith previously won a million dollar plus insurance payout due the concussions he suffered.

Outside the court, the firm's leading lawyer Michel Margalit said the firm was seeking about AUD$ 2 million (US$1.35 million) plus medical expenses per player. Margalit said it could cost the AFL close to 1 billion $AUD (US$666 million).She said it was not about "bringing down the AFL", but getting the compensation for the players, Rooke played 135 games for the Cats 2001-2010 and is the lead plaintiff. He, like many of the others sustained permanent and life-altering injuries as a result of concussion-related injuries and because of the AFL’s negligence. Margalit said, “Their careers are finished and years later they find these concussion-related injuries creeping in and affecting their ability to work, their ability to have a happy family life."

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Concussion Class Action Against AFL

In recent years, a number of players have signed on to file a class action suit against the AFL to seek compensations for the effects of concussions they suffered during their careers. The Melbourne Margalit Injury Lawyers law firm is preparing to take the case to the Victorian Supreme Court. The firm has already spoken to a number of former players and believe they could get up to $2 million in compensation for each player.

The firm has also called for an overhaul of the existing workers' comp plans. One issue is professional sport players are exempt from coverage The firm's managing principal Michel Margalit said, "As it stands, AFL players are excluded from seeking WorkCover in Victoria which stop them making claims for medical and other expenses and weekly payments. AFL is big business and it is appalling to think that players are excluded from receiving care and compensation, while AFL executives on astronomical wages hold these entitlements.'' She used the precedent of USA NFL players suing the NFL for compensation.

(Ed. note: this is another story in our on-going coverage of the effects of concussion on AFL players.) Please read on... 

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CTE Found In Shane Tuck

Tuck Flies

The Australian Sports Brain Bank has revealed the late Shane Tuck had a severe case of CTE, making him the third AFL player - after Graham "Polly Farmer and Danny Frawey - to have suffered from the crippling neurological disorder. The former Richmond star died in July last year at the age of 38 after a lengthy battle with mental health issues. Tuck’s family agreed to donate his brain to the Brain Bank and it was revealed he had stage three CTE.  Neuropathologist  Michael Buckland said, “It’s the worst case I’ve seen so far.

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Pie's Forced Retirement, Concussion Delisting

Langdon Tackled

Collingwood defender Tom Langdon has been forced to retire due to a chronic knee injury. Langdon, 26, was drafted in 2013 and played 89 games for the Magpies. A mainstay of the backline, he was named one of the best on ground in the 2018 Grand Final against the Eagles. He suffered severe cartilage damage just two months into the 2019 season and has not played since. General manager of football Geoff Walsh paid tribute to Langdon, “Tom played some wonderful football ... and it was a sad day when the reality of his premature retirement arrived.

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Reactions To Farmer Story

Picken Heads For Goal

After the Farmer story broke, former Hawk premiership player and 1987 Brownlow Medalist John Platten spoke on SEN's breakfast show. He said the revelation about Farmer was "pretty scary". Platten said he suffered at least 40 concussions during his 18-year career which began in the SANFL.  One of those concussions was suffered during the brutal 1989 Grand Final against Geelong. He was so badly concussed in that game, he remembers very little about it and, to this day, cannot remember receiving his premiership medal. 

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CTE Found In Late Polly Farmer

Polly Farmer


Graham "Polly" Farmer passed away in 2019 at the age of 84. After his passing, a sample of his brain tissue was examined. In a first for the AFL, both a scientific journal and the West Australian newspaper reported that the examination revealed that he had CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) from head knocks he suffered during his playing career. While the medical journal did not reveal his name, the newspaper did. Farmer played 356 games from 1952 to 1971 as a ruckman for East Perth and West Perth in the WAFL and for Geelong in the VFL. He is considered a revolutionary figure in the game because of how he played the ruck position and his use of the handball.

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McVeigh Retires and Bennell Surgery

McVeigh Goals in Game 300

Sydney stalwart Jarrad McVeigh has announced he would retire at the end of the season. McVeigh, 34, has played just five games this season due to quad, hamstring, and calf injuries. His last AFL game was Round 12. He was on the comeback trail through the NEAFL but strained a calf. He is still hopeful of a final farewell game in Round 23. McVeigh also thought of playing on in 2020, but the latest setback told him otherwise.

McVeigh was drafted in 2002 and has been a key to the team's recent success of 15 finals series and five Grand Finals. His 324 games is just one shy of former teammate Jude Bolton (323) and he is just one of four Swans to play 300 games, the others being Adam Goodes (372) and Michael O'Loughlin (303). And he will go down as one of the most decorated and influential players in the club's history.

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