Former footy players express concern after Graham ‘Polly’ Farmer CTE diagnosis sends shockwaves through AFL

Revelations late AFL legend Graham “Polly” Farmer’s brain trauma was linked to repeated head knocks over years of playing has former players worried about their own health. The West Australian this morning exclusively revealed results of analysis of the footy great’s brain, which shows he had chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Since the bombshell dropped, a number of former AFL players have shared the extent of their own concussions and head-knocks over the years and expressed concerns about the potential ramifications for their health. Former Fremantle Docker Lee Spurr said the news was concerning for players like himself who had suffered multiple concussions. “I’ve had a couple and one of them, probably the last one I had in my career was a very solid one where I stayed awake but I can’t remember six hours,” he told 6PR this morning. “The rules need to change. They’re modifying and they’re improving and the doctors do a great job, but it needs to become mandatory like you miss two weeks. “Your health is more important than playing a game of footy.” Former Essendon and Geelong player John Barnes recalled being set back 10 weeks by a particularly bad blow to the head, and on other occasions waking up in hospital with little memory of what had occurred. “A few ones where you get knocked out and dazed but you just keep going because that’s what players do when they play the game,” he told the Herald Sun. He said about five years ago he was in the middle of a conversation when he passed out and started frothing at the mouth. “They said I’d had a seizure. I didn’t know who I was, where I was, I had no memory recall,” he said. “They come and go. I could have one talking to you right now.” Former Dockers player Matthew Pavlich also expressed worry on 6PR this morning. “The concussions certainly add up… I’m pretty sure I’ve had half a dozen concussions while playing in the AFL. It is pretty scary as a former player,” he said. “It was a badge of honour to cop a knock and get back out there… that’s just stupidity. “I think people are only just starting to talk about it. It is scary.” Brain Injury Australia chief executive Nick Rushworth said what was diagnosed in Farmer was not new. “It’s been long known that if you have repeated head knocks – particularly if you don’t allow the brain sufficient time to repair and recover,” he said. “When you’re playing AFL for example, only when you’re asymptomatic – when all the headaches have cleared, the dizziness has cleared, the fog has cleared on your brain, do you return to training, let alone to competitive play.” WA Football Commission spokesman Grant Dorrington, who once played with Farmer, said the game was safer today at all levels than it had been in his day. “Getting knocked out was get up and get on with it sort of attitude,” he told 6PR. “I think our game today addresses issues far quicker and with more decisive planning. Positive steps, protect the head.”