WESTERN Bulldogs utility Mitch Hahn says players need to be more informed about the damage to their brains caused by concussion.
In a week when Adelaide's Scott Stevens was forced to retire because of the effect of serious head knocks, Hahn revealed in The Age that he still felt numbness on the right side of his mouth after two concussions in 2010, one of them a pre-season incident in which he sustained five facial fractures and a serious concussion.
Hahh, who was delisted by the Bulldogs at the end of last season but retained on the club's rookie list, said, "I passed concussion tests and felt OK. But I look back at it now and say, 'Was I really ready in terms of my confidence, and the ability to be able to do the same things that I did, like going back with the flight of the ball as hard as I did or putting my head over the ball as hard?'.''
He said players were educated about their bodies, but not about the effect of brain injuries.
''Do we have enough information about what happens when we get concussed and how long it takes for the brain to settle down and the swelling or bleeding and all those sort of things?
"I think that would help players understand it, and then maybe if someone did cop a knock they might take a little bit of extra time to make sure they're 100 per cent right, rather than just thinking they're 100 per cent right.''
It is difficult not to read into Hahn's comments the suggestion that footballers feel under pressure - as much from themselves as from coaches or club officials - to try to "come up" from head knocks. And it's difficult not to accept that a great deal more care needs to be taken.
Bailey rising
FOUR more wins - three-and-a-half if you want to get technical - is all that stands between Dean Bailey and a new contract with Melbourne, the Herald Sun suggests.
Drawing a fairly long bow from a pre-match radio interview with Jim Stynes in which the Demons' president suggested 10 wins for the season would be a pass mark, the newspaper has declared the victory against Richmond on Saturday as the most significant of Bailey's career.
With six-and-a-half wins from 13 matches, Bailey's men look entirely capable of reaching the 10-win target, although whether that would necessarily guarantee the coach's survival isn't clear.
Is a "pass mark" going to be enough, or will the Melbourne hierarchy want a little bit more? And will they be tempted by more experienced coaches who might be on the market come the end of the season?
Bailey and Demons might want to aim a little higher, given that 10 wins is unlikely to be enough to make the finals.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs
