A major US college football conference will implement independent in-game medical assessments of head knocks, a move likely to have repercussions for AFL clubs, according to a leading sports doctor.
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The Big Ten conference, which includes a number of top athletic schools, has instituted a new rule whereby a trained neutral observer will sit inside a video booth and watch for players who appear to have suffered a concussion
The observer will have direct contact with on-field officials in the event he believesplay should be stopped, or a player needs medical attention. The conference also announced it would be harsher on schools that did not report concussions.
The AFL has thus far stopped short of forcing players to be checked by neutral assessors, but Dr Peter Larkins, former chairman of Sports Medicine Australia, has suggested that a handful of poorly handled incidents could sway the league to act.
"The AFL particularly believes that the club doctors are in the best position to judge the player, but they've been put on notice that they have to be impartial," Larkins said on Tuesday.
With video goal reviews in place for three seasons, the use of broadcasters' footage to assist independent observers deal with head knocks appears feasible.
The AFL initiated new measures in 2013 to address the growing concern relating to head injuries to players. These included the ability for clubs to temporarily substitute players while they undergo a test for concussion, as well as mandating that club doctors have sideline video screens so that they can watch head collisions in their immediate aftermath.
Larkins believes scrutiny of club doctors will only increase as the quality of television coverage gets better.
"It's a controversial topic," Larkins said.
"I think the AFL doctors are on notice that there are certain cases where they needed to perhaps do a better job, and I'm not going to individualise."
In 2012, the AFL fined North Melbourne $20,000 for hindering an AFL probe into an a concussion sustained by key defender Lachie Hansen. While Kangaroos doctors were not rebuked for their treatment of Hansen, the club's football department was deemed to have not co-operated fully with the investigation.
The league also questioned Geelong about the manner in which it handled a knock to midfielder Allen Christensen during the round 14 loss this year to Gold Coast. Christensen had a history of concussions. The Cats were not found to have acted improperly.
In August, AFL chief medical officer Peter Harcourt attended a think-tank in New York on concussion in sport, at which he was joined by representatives from FIFA, the NRL, NFL and the International Rugby Board.
The move of the Big Ten conference followed the apparent suicide of a football player from one of its schools. Ohio State player and former wrestler Kosta Karageorge, 22, was found last week, the victim of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. He had been the victim of several concussions throughout his career.
The NFL in 2013 brought in independent experts to check players leaving the field who appeared to have concussive symptoms, which followed class action taken by more than 4500 former NFL players who accused the league of shielding its knowledge of the long-term effects of repeated head knocks. The case is likely to be settled for close to $US1 billion.
