{"id":852653,"date":"2026-08-12T14:22:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T14:22:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/852653\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T14:22:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T14:22:21","slug":"afl-2026-jake-kolodjashnij-playing-status-after-geelong-concussion-scandal-cats-waiver-video-latest-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/852653\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL 2026: Jake Kolodjashnij playing status after Geelong concussion scandal, Cats waiver, video, latest news"},"content":{"rendered":"

Respected commentator Gerard Whateley says key AFL stakeholders need to \u201ccome together\u201d and create a \u201cpath\u201d for Jake Kolodjashnij to be able to return to play<\/a>, if fit and willing. <\/p>\n

It comes as the Cats premiership defender\u2019s playing future has again been plunged into uncertainty<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Watch every match of every round of the AFL Premiership Season LIVE and ad-break free during play on FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Geelong confirmed on Tuesday night that Kolodjashnij had been ruled unavailable to play at AFL and VFL levels<\/a> this weekend as the club prioritises his \u201ccare and wellbeing\u201d. <\/p>\n

With the Cats\u2019 secret waiver scrapped, Whateley says it leaves the 31-year-old in a familiar position. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou can follow a thread of logic here. He is essentially back in the same position he was in the preseason of 2024, when all he could do was run laps,\u201d he said on AFL 360 on Wednesday night. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe couldn\u2019t participate in contact training, so at that stage, he had been to the AFL\u2019s concussion tribunal, and he\u2019d been delivered the \u2018amber\u2019 finding \u2014 not the \u2018you\u2019re right to play\u2019, and not the \u2018you\u2019re medically retired\u2019. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo he returns to the club, and they end up settling on the voluntary assumption of risk \u2026 that we know was not sent to the AFL and not approved nor negotiated with the Players\u2019 Association. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut it provided some layer of comfort and insurance for that group that Kolodjashnij could return to play, where he has for three years continued his AFL career successfully. <\/p>\n

\u201cOnce that got removed on Thursday, and Chris Scott confirmed that he was told on Friday at the captain\u2019s run (that) Kolodjashnij is now unavailable for selection. <\/p>\n

\u201cBecause whatever comfort and assurances there were in that document, regardless of their standing, are no longer there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kolodjashnij not available for | 00:57<\/p>\n

Putting aside the \u2018right\u2019 and \u2018wrong\u2019, Whateley said the \u201cspinoff conversation\u201d revolves around whether there\u2019s a channel for Kolodjashnij to now keep playing at the professional level. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd this is where the Players\u2019 Association, who were excluded (initially), are now central \u2014 you have a player who can no longer play,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIs there a path for Jake Kolodjashnij, who\u2019s been told he\u2019s not medically retired, it\u2019s his risk, should he go on to play. Is there a path within footy for him to continue his AFL career, or not?\u201d<\/p>\n

Former Demons captain Garry Lyon questioned what was stopping Kolodjashnij from again fronting an expert concussion panel to cement his playing status. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo, they won\u2019t sign off on him playing, he\u2019s not ruled out by the expert concussion panel \u2026 he\u2019s played for three years, Gerard. Why doesn\u2019t he go back to the concussion panel and resubmit himself and get a green light?\u201d Lyon asked. <\/p>\n

\u201cGet the green light on the basis that, \u2018Hey, I\u2019ve got some pretty firm evidence that suggests I\u2019m able to cope with the demands of AFL footy; I\u2019ve played for three damn years\u2019. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo I\u2019ll get the green light, go back to Geelong, go back to the insurance bloke and go here, here\u2019s the green light, there\u2019s the three years of evidence, let me play\u2019. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhy can\u2019t that happen?\u201d<\/p>\n

Whateley replied: \u201cI don\u2019t know the answer to that.<\/p>\n

AFL’s come clean plea! | 05:05<\/p>\n

\u201cBut that\u2019s (why) the industry is going to have to come together, and the Players\u2019 Association, having been excluded (previously), is going to have to lead this. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t have a player who can\u2019t play on whose determination?\u201d<\/p>\n

Lyon added that it was \u201cnonsense\u201d, citing again that Kolodjashnij had played three clean years after his first visit to the concussion panel. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a simplistic view, there\u2019s much more nuance to it, I get it,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut the reality is, he has played for three years after they did the deal \u2026 surely if he\u2019s keen, goes back and resubmits himself to the expert panel, and they either green-light him or red-light him. <\/p>\n

\u201c(If) they green-light him, he goes back and says \u2018there\u2019s my green light, there\u2019s my three years, let\u2019s go\u2019. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat has to be the process, surely.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Respected commentator Gerard Whateley says key AFL stakeholders need to \u201ccome together\u201d and create a \u201cpath\u201d for Jake…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":852654,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-852653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852653","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=852653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852653\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/852654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=852653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=852653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=852653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}