Geelong coach Chris Scott has described the AFL’s concussion return-to-play timeframe as a “furphy” while making clear he wants no involvement in discussions surrounding Tom Stewart’s recovery from a head knock.
The five-time All-Australian was concussed in the dying stages of the Cats’ one-point loss to Adelaide back in Round 13, which didn’t see him enter concussion protocols until the days after the Adelaide Oval thriller.
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However, after his side’s nine-point loss to Fremantle on Thursday night, Scott suggested the public focus on concussion timelines can often be misplaced, insisting the club’s approach is to leave medical decisions entirely in the hands of health professionals.
“The concussion window is a bit of a furphy,” Scott told journalists post-match in Perth.
“There’s a guideline there, and you probably know about it more than I do, because we take the approach of we don’t want to get involved at all. I’m taking that view more and more when it comes to injury, full stop.”
Scott then revealed he was increasingly uncomfortable with questions regarding players’ medical situations, believing there was an important privacy element that should be respected.
“I do, if I’m being really honest, take offence to getting questioned on players’ personal injury status. I think not many people have to deal with that, and there is an element of it being private. That’s the approach we take internally as well,” Scott continued.
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“We are moving more to a model where we don’t take much interest at all until the players are cleared to play.”
Stewart’s earliest possible return to AFL level from the mandatory 12-day protocols was never made public, however Scott’s retrospective reveal on his availability suggest he may have been able to play if fit.
“It was probably clear to us Tuesday afternoon that he wasn’t playing, and we just moved on. Literally, there’s not another question asked after that,” the two-time premiership coach said.
“I wouldn’t ask anyway …. What I’m happy to say, is there hasn’t been anything negative. It’s just that he wasn’t going to be available, and we moved on.”
Stewart’s absence was keenly felt against the ladder-leading Dockers, with Geelong falling just short despite an undermanned side that was also missing Bailey Smith through illness.