Gerard Whateley has given his immediate reaction to the stunning news that Angus Brayshaw has announced his retirement.
Brayshaw told his teammates on Thursday morning that, after his history of concussions, that he has been forced to medically retire.
Whateley says this speaks to the game’s larger need to address incidents that cause concussions.
“It’s distressing news really and particularly sobering. For some of the academic debate that goes on and some of the distorted passion around the need of the game to address duty of care and to make a contact sport as safe as it can be,” Whateley said on SEN Mornings.
“I feel like we’ve lived through Paddy McCartin and this might be even more graphic because it’s the highest profile incident of last year at the Tribunal, it was bitterly divisive along the way, it was heavily contested on the night, but the prosecution could never make the case on the night about what Brayden Maynard did wrong.
“And that’s why the rules had to be recast in the aftermath. You can’t prevent everything happening on the field, but once you see a glaring loophole, the lawmakers are duty-bound to address it.
“And it might not prevent it happening again, although I think it would, but it would mean there was consequence to it.
“I do think it moves this from very much an academic debate to the practicality of the age. We can’t just benignly accept a 28-year-old is gone from the game after 167 games without there being some course of action in the aftermath.”
Maynard wasn’t suspended for the hit in the Qualifying Final that concussed Brayshaw, which ultimately proved to be his final game.
The likes of Paddy McCartin, Daniel Venables, Max Lynch, Paul Seedsman and others have called time on their careers early due to the affects of concussion.
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