‘Things are already out of hand’: Judge’s warning as at least seven Cats in AFL concussion case

A frustrated Supreme Court judge has considered slashing the number of players eligible for a concussion class action case against the AFL, after hearing at least seven Geelong players are involved.

Cats premiership player Max Rooke is the lead plaintiff in the case, which seeks compensation for alleged damage suffered by players due to concussion who played AFL games between 1985 and March 2023.

The claim alleges Rooke “suffered permanent, life-altering injuries as a result of concussion related injuries, and due to the negligence of the AFL”. He claims to have suffered between 20 and 30 concussions through his career.

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But Justice Andrew Keogh appeared frustrated by the case, which is running into its third year, and according to The Age raised the possibility of containing it to the years Rooke played (2002 to 2010) to speed it up.

“At some point, one has to deal with efficiency and proportionality,” Keogh told Rooke’s representative Fiona Forsyth KC.

“This feels like an enormous class action, but it’s not. There are a relatively limited number of people involved, so things will get out of hand quickly. Things are already out of hand, which is of significant concern to me.”

The court was told there was a Geelong ‘subgroup’ in the case with minimal details. Seven players are listed but the names were not given, only that one of them played one senior game.

Max Rooke playing in the 2009 Grand Final. Source: News Limited

On Tuesday the court went through submissions regarding what constituted a “group member” who could prove loss and damage.

Forsyth argued the definition should be broad - alleged victims currently don’t need an official diagnosis of brain damage or symptoms - which the AFL argued against.

“A footballer has had head knocks in the course of playing football, and has had symptoms prior to the 14th March, is it related to a permanent brain injury or not?” Phillip Crutchfield KC said.

“The pleading (by Forsyth) doesn’t hone in on that permanent brain injury because the sort of symptoms one could have prior to the 14th March, 2023, they could be regular headaches, they could be some kind of cognitive brain (injury) … but absent of going along to the doctor, the group member … is not going to know and have any reasonable basis on whether they can find out or not if they have suffered a permanent brain injury without making an inquiry.”

As it stands more than 60 former players and family members of dead players are involved in the class action which could cost the AFL close to $1 billion if successful.

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