WAFL player safety comes first with new Blue Card

The West Australian Football Commission is set to trial a new ‘Blue Card’ in upcoming pre-season WAFL games, with the focus on putting player's safety first.
 
The introduction of the card will see players with suspected concussions or a head knock as a result of a rough conduct charge, removed by umpires for a minimum of 15 minutes to undergo SCAT 5 testing by medical staff.
 
To ensure no disadvantage occurs, the player responsible for the reportable offence and suspected injury will also be shown the Blue Card and sidelined for 15 minutes.
 
WAFC Chief Executive Officer, Michael Roberts said the introduction of the Blue Card will ensure player safety is paramount and the right action is taken to assess and treat players after a head knock.
 
“Concussions can be serious and create lifelong issues for players especially if they aren’t handled in the correct way when they occur, so we are taking our responsibility for educating clubs and protecting players seriously,” he said.

“We are really proud of this opportunity to pave the way for the rest of the competition nationally and following the trial, hope to see this implemented as a standard across all of our WAFL competitions for the 2022 season.”
 
Recently retired Swan Districts footballer Corey Gault, who left the game due to concussion and the recurring impact it had on his day-to-day life has said the Blue Card could have been vital to reducing the impact his concussion has had on him.

“I think my situation is quite a good example, because I was able to get up straight away and keep playing and I felt like I was ok, there was no immediate need to assess me. After the adrenaline and buzz had worn off I then developed concussion symptoms,” he said.

"I’ve had around 10 concussions over my footballing career, and the last three have had prolonged recovery times. Symptoms have ranged from blurred vision, dizziness to constant low-level headaches."

Gault is keen to see the implementation of the non-negotiable rule, hoping it enables players to understand head knocks are serious.

“I think the best thing that will come from the Blue Card will be allowing the medical professionals the time to comprehensively assess a player without major time constraints and having to deal with other factors such as coaches wanting to get the player back on or the player wanting to get back and play. This will limit players saying, ‘I'll be ok, just a small knock’,” he said.

WAFC Umpiring Operations Manager and ex AFL umpire, Dean Margetts said he had seen many instances of head injuries where players, to the detriment of their health, played on.
 
“Despite rules implemented around tackling, we are still seeing rough conduct that is unsafe and detrimental to the game and health of players,” Margetts said.

“Umpires aren’t claiming to be doctors, but we are concerned and want to ensure players that take the field are fit and well.  The Blue Card can be used at our discretion, and we don’t take our duty of care lightly in these scenarios.”
 
To help report these incidents, the WAFC has created an online concussion reporting tool which will be used to monitor all concussions occurring at training and during games.
 
The Blue Card will undergo a trial for the first three weeks of the WAFL pre-season and is likely to be implemented into the WAFLW competition after the mid-season bye.