The obvious solution to concussions in AFL that no want's to say

[The Feeder Club]

Its a tough one. Maybe the stance ought to be you can pin the players arms to draw HTB, but if the player falls to the ground while his arms are pinned, slams his head into the turf and suffers concussion then the tackler will be strictly liable, i.e., no defence available?

Yeah it is tough. There is something counterintuitive about having an action that simulataneously wins you a free kick but gets you suspended. But I don't know what the answer is

 

[falcons2]

But then it goes back to outcome. Watson pinned the arms of Reid and drove him into the ground. It was a more reckless tackle than Curtis, but is not only ticked off but actively promoted.

You make a lot of sense but I still argue it's a technique problem. Curtis lands right on Sinn back, that's 80+ Kg's adding to the impact, Watson lands next to Reid, not adding any direct weight to Reid's impact with the ground.

I'm comfortable with a player missing a week if a tackle in its execution leads to a concussion, but 3 is way overs.

All that said, I believe pinning one arm is the better tackle as it forces a poor or incorrect disposal.

 

[Scotland]

Then make better helmets?

How much work has the AFL gone into in developing a helmet that would help support "brain injury" vs "skull injury".

And lets be straightforward here - the skull is there to protect the brain. If a helmet is helping to protect the skull, its by default providing more support against the brain being injured too. Its literally the purposed of the skull outside of it being a casing for all our other parts (eyes, ears etc)

From the internets: "Concussion is a brain injury caused by a knock or blow to the head or a sudden change in motion".

How does a helmet prevent a sudden change in motion? You can't prevent sudden movement of the brain without preventing sudden movement of the head. I can't see a helmet doing that. If you are driving a tanker full of petrol at 100 km/h then stop suddenly all the fuel in the tank will surge forward before moving backwards and eventually settling to a level. The liquid surging back and forth is not a failure of the tank.

The skull protects the brain - to a point. The skull is hard, the brain is soft. You bang your head on a cupboard door or something the skull will do its job and you should be fine. That level of impact to the skull might give you a cut of a little lump. That level of impact to the brain without the skull is enough to turn you into a panellist on Agenda Setters.

Just because a Kevlar vest will protect you from a bullet wound doesn't mean it will necessarily protect you from internal bleeding if someone repeatedly hits you with a baseball bat.