Another claim, that the helmet’s force reduction reduced “the risk of concussion” when compared to other headgear, has also been removed.<\/p>\n
The GameGear headgear is being sold for $215 while its efficacy is still being studied, in a move that has been branded as “potentially dangerous” by leading sports neuroscientist Alan Pearce.<\/p>\n
The AFL did not respond to questions regarding these now-removed claims on the GameGear website.<\/p>\n
Do you know more?Contact Jessica Halloran at Halloran.Jessica@abc.net.au<\/a>If you require more secure communication, please choose an option on the confidential tips page.<\/a><\/p>\n In a statement to the ABC, GameGear said: “GameGear does not claim that its helmet prevents or reduces concussion in real game scenarios.”<\/p>\n “Importantly, no headgear to date has been scientifically proven to do so, as existing products were not designed or validated for that purpose in live play,” the company’s statement said.<\/p>\n “GameGear has been developed with the objective of addressing this gap.<\/p>\n “To rigorously assess real-world outcomes, it is currently subject to an independently administered study led by head trauma researchers at Monash University, involving 600 players over two years.<\/p>\n “This trial aims to detect significant changes in impact force reduction and concussion as a result of wearing the GameGear helmet.”<\/p>\n “With this level of ambition comes scrutiny, and, as a new company, GameGear is happy to review marketing materials to ensure there is no misunderstanding between laboratory findings and real-game performance, which remain the focus of the Monash University study.”<\/p>\n ‘Irresponsible and outright dangerous’<\/p>\n Meanwhile, AFL player manager Peter Jess, a long-time advocate for footballer safety, penned a complaint to the ACCC and has also alleged the league had misled the public in creating its new headgear standards, which were launched in January.<\/p>\n GameGear is the only headgear to have satisfied the standards so far.<\/p>\n In a four-page letter of complaint to ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb, Mr Jess requests the body “prosecutes” the league for “misleading and deceptive conduct in regard to the safety of participating in AFL football at any level of the competition”.<\/p>\n Peter Jess has accused the AFL of misleading the public about the protection headgear could provide against brain injuries. (ABC Sport: Peter Lusted, file photo)<\/p>\n In the letter sent on April 9, Mr Jess accuses the AFL of consistently downplaying the impact of concussion and is critical of the code endorsing headgear.<\/p>\n “The AFL has supported the introduction of helmets as a concussion prevention apparatus,” Mr Jess alleges to the ACCC.<\/p>\n “The AFL knows full well that a helmet cannot and will not prevent the lateral and rotational forces of a collision that creates [brain injury].”<\/p>\n Despite the lack of scientific proof that headgear is effective at preventing concussion, on January 29 the AFL announced its “first ever Australian Football Headgear Standards”.<\/p>\n In an interview with the ABC, Mr Jess alleged that simply by creating headgear standards, the AFL had misled the public.<\/p>\n “Mums and dads have been misled into believing this will stop any brain trauma,” Mr Jess said.<\/p>\n “It is irresponsible and outright dangerous to say a concussion will be prevented by this equipment.”<\/p>\n “The AFL has created a helmet standard that is going to fail its players.<\/p>\n “They have created a standard that gives an impression that it is a standard of safety, that it will protect, but it won’t protect [players from brain injury].”<\/p>\n The AFL has not yet responded to questions from the ABC regarding Mr Jess’s ACCC complaint.<\/p>\n GameGear is the only helmet to have passed the AFL’s new standards so far.<\/p>\n However, the AFL’s standards stipulate that even though the league may endorse the use of certain headgear, it does not state it will guarantee protection from brain injury.<\/p>\n Loading…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An AFL-endorsed helmet company has backtracked on its claims of “superior protection against concussion” and the league is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":611450,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[27358,638,64,63,55,639,40101,290002,297041,297043,144593,297042,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-611449","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-abcinvestigations","9":"tag-afl","10":"tag-au","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-australian-football-league","13":"tag-australianfootballleague","14":"tag-concussion","15":"tag-gamegear","16":"tag-headgear","17":"tag-headgear-standards","18":"tag-helmet","19":"tag-peter-jess","20":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=611449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/611450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=611449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=611449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=611449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Peter](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/8834867c06740c226324331741187c9b.jpeg\")
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