An investigation into Christian Petracca’s horrific 2024 injuries has been completed 681 days after the game.
The AFL and AFL Players’ Association have finally closed the book on the saga after the former Demons star was rushed to hospital with internal injuries during the club’s King’s Birthday blockbuster in 2024.
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Petracca underwent surgery after being diagnosed with a Grade 5 lacerated spleen, four broken ribs and a punctured lung sustained during the Demons’ loss to Collingwood.
Petracca, who was traded to Gold Coast in October, was allowed to return to the field of play nearly two years ago, with the superstar reported to have expressed disappointment in his club’s handling of the incident in the aftermath.
Speaking on Channel 7 on Wednesday night, journalist Tom Morris reported the AFL has arrived at four recommendations for the league to implement.
1) Changes to pre-match briefings, including more rigour around what is said to medical staff before a game and detailing local hospitals and necessary communication channels in the case of an emergency.
2) Emergency management support, aligning a consistent gameday approach across all states and venues
3) A mandatory biannual emergency care course for club medical staff every two years
4) A tightened audit process, including the automatic reviews of all emergency match-day incidents
Asked why the review took so long, Morris said: “Because the AFL is a slow-moving beast.
“Part of the reason (former players union chief executive) Paul Marsh was done at the AFL Players’ Association — by his own accord — was he was sick of how long everything takes at the AFL — the bureaucracy that the AFL is.”
The issue of match day practices varying from state to state was one of the most surprising learnings to emerge.
“That staggered me when I found out,” Morris said on Seven.
“Until now, they’ve just cherry-picked which ones they want to review,” Morris added.
“Now, every single emergency that happens on the football field will be reviewed.
“I think anything that requires immediate emergency care (will be considered an emergency). Not a hamstring, obviously. Something that requires care beyond the football field, so automatically to the hospital, someone who gets concussed, rib injuries, ACLs — they will all be reviewed.”
Originally published as ‘Staggered me’: Christian Petracca investigation findings released