Nathan Murphy retires

[Coasters7]

Experts don’t really know the risks, much less teenagers.

I mean purely from the simple fact of playing a 360° contact sport. Youre just as likely to land a career ending, and life affecting injury, to one of your limbs or your back but that doesn’t draw the same amount of buzz.

Players know they could get hurt playing against other massive blokes, and again, that’s why they get paid what they do. If you don’t want to play then don’t play.

Again, harder to justify in lower leagues and junior footy but the elite guys can’t have their cake and eat it too. You know what you’re getting yourself into so don’t cry after you’ve been paid millions to kick a ball around a field.

It obviously sucks, but you get fairly compensated for the risk.

 

[CoastersFlag No.5]

Really unfortunate for a good lock down defender that good teams are built on. Really unfortunate but like Venables will have '18 Murphy will have 23. Plenty of players have had long careers and never got that medal. Good decision to prioritise a young man's health.

 

[MagpieJo]

Is this tweet true? Did he really retire because of this tackle at training?

that was the camel back straw, thats all. the one that made him realise it was time to pull the pin.

 

[HairyO]

At the same time a lot of his concussions were a bit innocuous and didn't really look that bad at the time. Whether that was due to earlier concussions or he was a bit more fragile than most when it came to head high hits.

Leaving a premiership player probably makes the decision to retire slightly easier than a few others who have had to make the decision. He played a big part in it and I thought we were in a bit of trouble when he was subbed out.

Hopefully he doesn't have to deal with too many issues from it over the rest of his life.

Youd hope given his age his brain recovers fully. Certainly he was at the point where nearly anything would concuss him so there wasnt a safe continue option.

 

[iameviljez]

I mean purely from the simple fact of playing a 360° contact sport. Youre just as likely to land a career ending, and life affecting injury, to one of your limbs or your back but that doesn’t draw the same amount of buzz.

I (respectfully) disagree - because people generally know what they are getting when it comes to risk to limbs, and those kind of injuries have a known and immediate consequence. (I'm thinking of guys like Morabito, Menzel, Jason Snell, even Nathan Brown who did come back, but was never the same again). Concussion, though... people cop a hit, and because the effects aren't felt for years, they don't know what the consequences are, if any.

A brain injury is also on a different plane to a limb injury. There are spates of suicides in the USA from CTE among football players, and early dementia is a massive life-ending problem for older soccer players in the UK. That's not really a significant issue with other collision injuries - I'd argue it's several levels above in severity.

 

[VinnieB]

Bad luck to Murphy, would suck having to retire so young - but he retires a premiership player (and an important part of it too) and I hope the Pies/insurance look after him.

It's been reported the Pies added an extra year and $500k to his contract end of 2023 so that he could make the right decision without worrying about money.

 

[BigTacoBandit]

that was the camel back straw, thats all. the one that made him realise it was time to pull the pin.

Wow, that's pretty sad. Poor guy. I guess all it takes is one too many hits in the wrong place.

 

[dmc333]

Is this tweet true? Did he really retire because of this tackle at training?

What are the odds? Retired by a guy who never tackles.

 

[Grand Uncle Horace]

Grim news. Nathan was a much admired player.

 

[tmpies01]

Is this tweet true? Did he really retire because of this tackle at training?

This Twitter account is a troll. I wouldn’t listen to anything they say

 

[iameviljez]

I really do worry about what folks like Joel Selwood will be like in years to come, with the amount of damage he took to his head.

Given the way that John Platten and Greg Williams have gone...

 

[Bianconeri]

What are the odds? Retired by a guy who never tackles.

Probably a good thing he doesn’t tackle considering his technique is awful.

 

[HawthornHawk]

Terrific player but glad common sense has prevailed here. Played an important role in the Pies winning a premiership and earned his medal, all the best to him.

 

[iameviljez]

Youd hope given his age his brain recovers fully.

Long term CTE, unfortunately, generally isn't fully recoverable. Not that we know a huge amount about it

 

[Guardian Hawk]

I'm not sure what the current evidence says about their effectiveness, but the AFL probably have to start giving real consideration to mandatory head protection. May not feel "quite right" in an AFL context (as we're used to what we currently have) but the safety and long term health of the players is paramount.

 

[iameviljez]

I'm not sure what the current evidence says about their effectiveness, but the AFL probably have to start giving real consideration to mandatory head protection.

The evidence - thin as it is at the moment - is that head protection can be counterproductive, because the impact is the brain on the inside of the skull, and helmets give players a feeling of invulnerability. It's not like riding a bike, where the biggest danger is a caved-in skull.

 

[VinnieB]

I'm not sure what the current evidence says about their effectiveness, but the AFL probably have to start giving real consideration to mandatory head protection. May not feel "quite right" in an AFL context (as we're used to what we currently have) but the safety and long term health of the players is paramount.

Really, the mandatory time off for a concussion should probably be a lot longer than what it currently is.
Unfortunately, that brings with it a whole set of other issues.

When Brayshaw stopped playing for a period in 2017, he said he worked on neck strengthening exercises.

I wonder if this is effective, and if so, should it be made compulsory for every club to ensure every player works on this.