Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\nIn a landmark agreement which had not previously been disclosed, the player is reported to have signed off on a deal where he has acknowledged he will play with a higher risk of potentially significant long-term or even permanent neurological damage. <\/p>\n
According to the report, the player, who has already suffered a number of head knocks during his career, and the club first agreed to a deal two years ago.<\/p>\n
The player, who has not been identified, is reported to have reached the agreement in a desperate attempt to continue his football career. <\/p>\n
The club also hoped to help the player extend his career, while also protecting itself and medical staff from future legal action.<\/p>\n
Herald Sun chief football writer and Fox Footy commentator Jay Clark said on Thursday morning players across the game are aware the agreement sets a \u201cdangerous example\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cA Victorian club has signed a secret deal with one of its players, which required them to accept all legal risks of any further head trauma they suffered on the field,\u201d Clark said in a video posted to CODE Sports.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a current-day player \u2013 who has suffered multiple concussions \u2013 who signed an agreement, which said they take it upon themselves \u2013 the physical and legal risk of loss, damage or injury arising from anymore brain injuries.<\/p>\n
\u201cIncredibly, this is a major worry for AFL players because it sets a dangerous example for others to essentially wave their legal rights on head trauma.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy understanding is this isn\u2019t the only assumption of risk agreement which has existed on concussion at AFL level. So it wasn\u2019t the first, but it very well could be the last.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnsurprisingly when I first asked the club about this signed contract, they denied it ever existed or could not recall it happening. But it soon became clear \u2013 and that is when the crisis meetings began.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to SEN radio journalist Sam Edmund, the AFL Players\u2019 Association (AFLPA) was \u201ccompletely unaware\u201d of the deal when they were informed about it last week<\/p>\n
Concussion campaigner and player manager Peter Jess earlier said to the radio station: \u201cMy initial reaction is one of total disbelief how a public company can behave in this manner to its most valuable commodity, which is the players.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just unbelievable that they\u2019re not thinking about making sure that these guys have got a safe workplace.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you try and contract out their basic human rights then what you do is create a position no better than modern day slavery.\u201d<\/p>\n
The AFL has not made any public comment. <\/p>\n
Originally published as AFL club identified in head trauma contract agreement bombshell<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Geelong has been identified as the AFL club that is reported to have reached a contractual agreement with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":845346,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[416834,416805,416832,416838,416816,398740,416826,416827,416817,416807,376490,379284,401260,416808,416825,416843,416833,416811,416854,376594,385680,638,194336,416851,416822,416732,416853,416830,378876,416809,416823,416813,416821,25103,64,63,55,639,416824,7167,103986,10970,68077,40101,416814,382576,385681,377159,1127,416829,416840,416836,13658,29253,31019,416818,379545,415280,416849,416841,416846,62756,377208,416810,416819,6010,4742,282433,13053,146666,416820,388189,244438,38633,15624,7820,416806,416847,416831,19397,416848,416837,85,379302,407466,416839,385670,407830,382205,416828,378882,377453,382541,74713,385100,416850,416812,388231,175806,416844,388083,416852,416835,412868,416845,416815,9357,416842,381028,377211],"class_list":["post-845345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-a-dangerous-example","tag-a-bombshell-development","tag-a-contractual-agreement","tag-a-current-geelong-player","tag-a-current-day-player","tag-a-deal","tag-a-desperate-attempt","tag-a-higher-risk","tag-a-landmark-agreement","tag-a-major-worry","tag-a-number","tag-a-player","tag-a-position","tag-a-public-company","tag-a-safe-workplace","tag-a-secret-agreement","tag-a-secret-deal","tag-a-star-player","tag-a-victorian-club","tag-a-video","tag-ad-break","tag-afl","tag-afl-club","tag-afl-level","tag-afl-players","tag-aflpa","tag-all-legal-risks","tag-an-afl-club","tag-an-agreement","tag-any-brain-injuries","tag-any-further-head-trauma","tag-any-public-comment","tag-anymore-brain-injuries","tag-association","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-biggest-scandal","tag-clark","tag-clear","tag-club","tag-code-sports","tag-concussion","tag-damage-or-injury","tag-disbelief","tag-every-match","tag-every-round","tag-fox-footy","tag-fox-footy-commentator-jay-clark","tag-future-legal-action-herald-sun-chief-football-writer","tag-future-watch","tag-geelong","tag-head","tag-head-trauma","tag-head-trauma-contract-agreement-bombshell","tag-his-career","tag-his-football-career","tag-its-most-valuable-commodity","tag-its-players","tag-just-1-in","tag-kayo","tag-kayo-sports-new","tag-last-weekconcussion-campaigner-and-player-manager-peter-jess","tag-leading-football-figures","tag-loss","tag-medical-staff","tag-modern-day-slavery","tag-morning","tag-multiple-concussions","tag-my-initial-reaction","tag-my-understanding","tag-ncaeditorialkayo","tag-play","tag-player","tag-players","tag-potential-future-legal-action","tag-potentially-significant-long-term-or-even-permanent-neurological-damage","tag-recent-time","tag-responsibility","tag-risk-agreement","tag-sen-radio-journalist-sam-edmund","tag-sports","tag-the-afl","tag-the-afl-club","tag-the-afl-players","tag-the-afl-premiership-season-live","tag-the-agreement","tag-the-club","tag-the-crisis-meetings","tag-the-deal","tag-the-field","tag-the-first","tag-the-game","tag-the-last","tag-the-only-assumption","tag-the-physical-and-legal-risk","tag-the-player","tag-the-players","tag-the-radio-station","tag-the-report","tag-their-basic-human-rights","tag-their-legal-rights","tag-these-guys","tag-this-manner","tag-this-signed-contract","tag-thursday","tag-total-disbelief","tag-two-years","tag-your-first-month"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845345","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=845345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/845346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=845345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=845345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=845345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}