AAA<\/p>\n
For much of my football journey, there was a culture where toughness was often measured by your ability to stay on the field.<\/p>\n
Many of us also grew up watching our football heroes bounce back to their feet after huge collisions, even when they were visibly rattled. That\u2019s what we admired. That\u2019s what we thought toughness looked like.<\/p>\n
![\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4057540be92cc1a3059b23f80d7a85a1bee239a9ae5fd4efa8b0e32c0daecfe0.jpeg\")
Photo: Marija Ercegovac<\/p>\n
Not every player felt this way, but for many of us there was a belief that if you could get through after a head knock, you did. You didn\u2019t want to let your teammates down, and concussion wasn\u2019t viewed much differently to any other injury.<\/p>\n
The tragic death of Nathan Fitzgerald<\/a> over the weekend has been a sombre reminder of just how important conversations around head knocks and brain health have become in football.<\/p>\n While every situation is different, moments like this remind us that protecting the brain matters at every level of our game \u2013 from the AFL and AFLW through to local and community football.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve now been in the AFLW system for 11 seasons, and I played elite sport for many years before that. Looking back, we simply didn\u2019t know what we know now about concussion. The conversation was different. The understanding was different. And because of that, the culture was different.<\/p>\n If you copped a knock to the head, your first instinct often wasn\u2019t, \u201cI need to get checked.\u201d For many players, staying on the ground was almost worn as a badge of honour. Toughness meant playing through pain. There was a degree of naivety around concussion. Some treated it like a corky or a rolled ankle \u2013 something you could simply grit your teeth through.<\/p>\n Some footballers even discussed making sure your pre-season baseline concussion testing wasn\u2019t their absolute best, just in case they ever needed a buffer later in the year. Whether people acted on those conversations or not, the fact they existed says something about the mindset at the time.<\/p>\n There was also, for some players, a reluctance to come from the ground or to fully disclose how they were feeling because nobody wanted to miss football. We saw the protocols as something that might stop us playing the game we loved.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The biggest shift over the past five years hasn\u2019t simply been the rules \u2013 it\u2019s been the culture. The rules didn\u2019t change the culture on their own \u2013 but they\u2019ve helped create it.<\/p>\n Players have helped lead that change, but so has the AFL through ongoing research, education and continually strengthening its concussion protocols. Every season the AFL brings concussion experts to speak to us about what we know, what we still don\u2019t know, and why brain injuries<\/a> must be treated differently to any other injury. The message is simple: concussion deserves enormous caution and respect.<\/p>\n That commitment to protecting players continues to evolve. From 2027, both the AFL and AFLW will introduce restrictions on contact training<\/a> to reduce players\u2019 exposure to head knocks. The focus is no longer just on responding to concussion \u2013 it\u2019s on preventing it wherever possible.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also changed the way we play the game. Football is fast and split-second decisions won\u2019t always be perfect, but players now carry a much greater sense of responsibility for protecting their opponents\u2019 heads<\/a>. We still compete fiercely, but we recognise that protecting another player\u2019s long-term health is part of respecting the game and each other.<\/p>\n While we\u2019ve learned a great deal about concussion, there is still so much we don\u2019t know about its long-term effects. That uncertainty alone is reason enough to take every head knock seriously.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve only had one diagnosed concussion in my career, after being caught in a sling tackle that ended my day. What stayed with me wasn\u2019t the tackle itself \u2013 it was what happened afterwards. I couldn\u2019t remember the next four to six hours, including completing the SCAT assessment with our doctor. Looking back, that\u2019s a confronting thing to say out loud.<\/p>\n At the time, the return-to-play protocol was seven days, so my focus was on getting back on the field the following week, which I did. Today, my goal would simply be making sure my brain had fully recovered, however long that took.<\/p>\n Years ago, after a heavy collision, the conversation in your own head might have been: \u201cAm I OK? Am I concussed? Should I come off? Should I see the doctor?\u201d<\/p>\n Now, much of that process is deliberately taken out of our hands \u2013 and I think that\u2019s one of The doctor will call you off the ground. Your teammates are looking for signs that something isn\u2019t right. Independent doctors are watching ARC vision. And importantly, players also feel empowered to say, \u201cSomething doesn\u2019t feel right.\u201d<\/p>\n We saw two example last round. The Brisbane Lions\u2019 Lachie Neale was called from the ground when the ARC identified he had received a head knock against Geelong. While he was eventually cleared of concussion symptoms and allowed to resume playing, the Bulldogs Nick Coffield was not so fortunate the following night against Sydney, and is now on the sidelines under the protocols. Both examples showed how the responsibility no longer sits solely with the player. There are now multiple layers of protection to help make the right decision.<\/p>\n At training, instead of hearing, \u201cYou\u2019ll be right,\u201d you\u2019re much more likely to hear, \u201cGo and We\u2019ve become better at protecting each other from our own competitive instincts.<\/p>\n Elite athletes are wired to keep playing. We don\u2019t want to miss games, leave our teammates a player down or lose our spot. Left to our own judgment, many of us would convince ourselves we\u2019re OK. That\u2019s why I no longer see the protocols as rules trying to stop us playing football \u2013 I see them as protection from our own competitive selves.<\/p>\n Years ago, the concern might have been, \u201cI\u2019m going to miss seven days.\u201d Today, the conversation is much bigger than that. It\u2019s about your long-term brain health and the life you\u2019ll live long after football.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve also seen powerful examples of players putting long-term health ahead of short-term football. Watching Geelong\u2019s Tom Stewart take the time he needed before returning after concussion reflected how much attitudes have changed. More profoundly, the retirements of Chelsea Randall<\/a> and Angus Brayshaw because of ongoing concussion concerns<\/a> have reminded everyone that this issue extends well beyond the next game.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Those decisions shape the culture for the next generation of players.<\/p>\n Football will always be a physical game and head knocks won\u2019t disappear completely. But the greatest change hasn\u2019t been another protocol or assessment tool. It\u2019s that players no longer see concussion management as something standing between them and football \u2013 we see it as something protecting us long after football.<\/p>\n Related Article That\u2019s the cultural shift I\u2019ve witnessed over the course of my career. Toughness is no longer about staying on the field at all costs. It\u2019s about having the courage to protect your own brain, to protect the brains of those around you, and to think beyond next week to the life you\u2019ll live after football.<\/p>\n The toughest players I know today aren\u2019t the ones who ignore a head knock. They\u2019re the ones who respect it.<\/p>\n That\u2019s the new definition of toughness.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a culture worth protecting \u2013 not just for the next generation of footballers, but for every player pulling on the boots today, from the AFL and AFLW right through to community football across the country<\/a>.<\/p>\n Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n
It was, \u201cI\u2019ll be right.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Libby](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/8e69f51cd8cd2aef0cee57e58331238f6ea9acbb.jpeg\")
Libby Birch playing for the Western Bulldogs in 2018 with her head bandaged. She now plays for North MelbourneWayne Ludbey<\/p>\n
the best changes our game has made.<\/p>\n
check in with the doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/8fda0a6ef2703851a01317854e8acfcd328adc07.jpeg\")
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