Wasn't his girlfriend Mackay's sister? Look at me getting all New Idea.
There is no case law on this in Australia yet, but there have been three cases in the NRL of legal action; one discontinued (possibility paid out), and two are ongoing (James McManus v Newcastle Knights and Brett Horsnel v Parramatta Eels). I suspect both of those will set precedents before Shaw v Crows is finalised. Obviously there's a lot of case law in the United States, in the NFL in particular, which would be looked at but not taken as seriously.
Shaw would most definitely be suffering ongoing problems, probably brain damage, which makes sense otherwise the financial damages would be too small to cover the legal costs (two to three years of a low AFL salary). He will have to demonstrate financial damages and that we didn't exercise a reasonable duty of care. He's obviously got the first part covered, but not sure how he'll go with the later. This is a big case for all AFL clubs.
I’m not sure that our courts can consider US precedence whatsoever. The science might be referred to, but results of their cases aren’t relevant to our system at all.