Former Western Bulldogs player Liam Picken has launched legal action against the AFL and his former club, alleging that they were negligent and breached their duty of care over Picken's head knocks, per The Age.
Picken retired from the AFL in 2019 due to suffering ongoing concussion symptoms. The premiership Bulldog had not played a senior game since 2017 after suffering a severe concussion that kept him sidelined for the 2018 season.
The 36-year-old's legal team has now revealed that concussions suffered during Picken's career, most notably knocks in 2017 and 2018, have left him with ongoing symptoms including headaches, anxiety, and an aversion to bright light.
Michael Tanner, a member of Picken's legal team, revealed to The Age that the former player allegedly wasn't made fully aware that he had failed cognitive assessments during his time as a player and was now seeking compensation against the league and the Bulldogs.
โFrom Liam's perspective, he was never made aware of his failings of any cognitive assessment he ever underwent. Further to that, he did not necessarily understand the full extent of his injuries or his symptoms,โ Tanner said.
โWhat he did was voice his concerns about his symptoms. The medical advice given to him at the time was (he was) still fit to play.
โLiam is greatly affected by it all and we say with proper medical care, his injuries could've been avoided.
โThe AFL's rules and regulations, they had created, were not followed.
โLiam was also never made aware of him failing any of his cognitive assessments. He [also] did not understand the full extent of his injuries or his symptoms.โ
The AFL is already set to face a class action filled by a number of past players who suffered concussion, while former AFLW player Emma Grant has launched a civil lawsuit against Collingwood after suffering a debilitating head injury in 2020.
In 2021, the league altered rules around head knocks, mandating that a player must be sidelined for 12 days after suffering a concussion.
