Shaun Smith receives 1.4M insurance payout for concussion

[Slartibartfast]

Shaun Smith has received 1.4m insurance payout for concussion he suffered while playing footy.

He was paid out under an insurance policy he took out himself, he said players are unlikely to get a payout from the AFL insurance policy ( saw him say this on an interview today but not in article).

This may have a large ripple effect going forward For the AFL.

"Two panels of medical people have looked at Shaun's case and said the injuries created from playing football were so significant that he'd never be able to work again

AFL veteran receives $1.4 million payout for concussion damage

Former North Melbourne and Melbourne player Shaun Smith says the payout is formal recognition of the permanent damage caused by repetitive concussions while playing football, and hopes the AFL will do more for players' welfare.

www.abc.net.au

 

[BF Tiger]

Happy for Shaun. but for

The modern player has to acknowledge that there are risks involved and accept those risks, providing the AFL and clubs provide adequate duty of care.

 

[Macpotata]

good. he's entitled to it.

 

[Slartibartfast]

Happy for Shaun. but for

The modern player has to acknowledge that there are risks involved and accept those risks, providing the AFL and clubs provide adequate duty of care.

AFL have to provide a safe workplace .
They also have to have decent insurance cover that if a plAyer does suffer long term impairment they are covered.

 

[HairyO]

AFL have to provide a safe workplace .
They also have to have decent insurance cover that if a plAyer does suffer long term impairment they are covered.

Non contact football?

How much responsibility should the players accept ?

 

[BF Tiger]

AFL have to provide a safe workplace .
They also have to have decent insurance cover that if a plAyer does suffer long term impairment they are covered.

Yeah... that’s what I said.

 

[raffrox]

Non contact football?

How much responsibility should the players accept ?

Not all of it.

It's only pretty recently that the AFL has really got its act together as far as concussion goes.

 

[Slartibartfast]

Non contact football?

How much responsibility should the players accept ?

The AFL are responsible for work place health issues.
I agree it can get a bit vague with the nature of the sport but big insurance payouts will force the hand of the AFL. This was not the AFLs insurer but i bet that insurer is looking at this case very closely.

 

[The Falcon Strike]

No insurer is going to cover brain injury going forward - and it’s more than likely That the afls insurance is a group policy that can have conditions changed each year - it’s not a guaranteed renewable policy

smiths claim had nothing to do with the afl per se

it was simply that he had brain injury and therefore was unlikely to ever work again

now - in all likelihood that injury came from footy - but for a successful claim - that doesn’t need to be proven - nor is it likely relevant

 

[HairyO]

Not all of it.

It's only pretty recently that the AFL has really got its act together as far as concussion goes.

Its only pretty recently that concussions have been properly understood.

 

[wagstaff]

The incident I can recall Smith getting injured in this context is when Tony Lockett knocked him out in 1997 or so with a particularly nasty cheap shot.

Think Lockett only got a couple of weeks suspension for it iirc even with his terrible record. Good those sort of incidents are largely phased out of the game now.

 

[Power Raid]

Happy for Shaun. but for

The modern player has to acknowledge that there are risks involved and accept those risks, providing the AFL and clubs provide adequate duty of care.

the courts want see it that way, as like knocking up a chick the state doesn't want to pay for others mistakes and will seek responsibility from the bloke. Same with brain injuries, the state will seek responsibility from the employer.

When insurance becomes to expensive, the AFL will fold. They know this, thus the rules of the game will continue to change.

 

[Dark Avenger]

The incident I can recall Smith getting injured in this context is when Tony Lockett knocked him out in 1997 or so with a particularly nasty cheap shot.

Think Lockett only got a couple of weeks suspension for it iirc even with his terrible record. Good those sort of incidents are largely phased out of the game now.

Smith floated back inside 50 to intercept a mark in front of Plugger who made him earn it. Also half the time Smith took one of his hangers on the way down he would land on his head. That certainly couldn't have helped.

 

[juss]

Not all of it.

It's only pretty recently that the AFL has really got its act together as far as concussion goes.

Its only relatively modern that all sporting codes have done this better.

We don't want players having long term impairments of course, but there needs to be some accepted risk of this injury in this nature of work. Every now and then someone is going to cop the horrible unfortunate bad luck that might lead to this.

 

[raffrox]

Its only relatively modern that all sporting codes have done this better.

We don't want players having long term impairments of course, but there needs to be some accepted risk of this injury in this nature of work. Every now and then someone is going to cop the horrible unfortunate bad luck that might lead to this.

As amazing as Big Footy is, it's for people other than us to determine this.

If it's more than 'bad luck' then the AFL will have to pay. I think there will be a few more to come.