AFL champion Darren Jarman was allegedly so badly concussed in a preliminary final he cannot remember kicking the winning goals that propelled the Adelaide Crows in the 1997 final.
The league is currently being sued by 100 former players, including John Barnes, Chad Rintoul, Shaun Smith, John Platten, Jay Schulz, Daryn Cresswell, and Jarman.
The players are taking action because they believe the league didn’t handle their concussions properly and it has caused long-term problems for them.
Jarman and Schulz have been diagnosed with or are showing signs of traumatic brain injuries.
Now it can be revealed that Jarman has no memories of being knocked out by a punch against the Western Bulldogs before being shifted into the forwards to keep him on the ground.
Adelaide were trailing the Bulldogs by 31 points at halftime, but the shift into the forward pocket paid dividends as Jarman booted three goals and had a direct hand in another.
Jarman was a hero for the Crows in 1997 in the preliminary final and grand final, but would have been ruled out of both matches under current concussion protocols
Jarman took two heavy knocks in Adelaide’s win over the Western Bulldogs and was moved to the forward pocket where he kicked three goals
It engineered a dramatic turnaround as Adelaide secured a two-point win that would ultimately lead to a grand final win over St Kilda.
However Jarman couldn’t even remember who had won or lost after the match, he was that concussed.
Greg Griffin, a guest speaker at a concussion summit, cited this incident as an example of how the AFL has let players down by not adequately supporting them on game day and during the recovery process after serious head injuries.
‘We had players who were never taken off after concussions,’ Griffin told The Age.
‘Darren is actually knocked unconscious in the 1997 prelim against Western Bulldogs in the second quarter. He is out. He is actually punched, and the player who did it [James Cook, who pleaded guilty to striking Jarman, was suspended for two matches for the incident] was reported.
‘The doctor has got him in the middle of the ground, and he is looking at the bench, saying, ‘What do we do?’
‘Of course, instead of taking him off, he was seriously damaged, he got put in the forward pocket. Adelaide were not doing well. And the coaching staff and medical staff decided their prospects of winning that prelim would be greatly enhanced by Darren Jarman being on the field, and not being looked after in the rooms.’
The grand final winner is now part of a class action lawsuit against the AFL that claims that clubs and the league did not do enough to protect concussed players
Jarman, not wanting to let him team down, obeyed directives and was concussed again not long afterward.
‘Darren, like all footballers, did what the coach says. He stayed on … he goes to the forward pocket. In the third quarter, he gets absolutely cleaned up again,’ Griffin said.
‘He is concussed again – not to worry because that is life, he is a professional footballer.
‘In the last quarter, he kicks two goals and hands out another one, and wins the game. After the game, the doctor walks up to him and says, ‘How do you feel?’ Darren looked at him, his response to that question was, ‘Who won?’
‘All of us have played football. If you have ever kicked two in the last quarter and gave away a third, and you came back from six goals down, and you were the cause of that comeback, you would probably know who won.’
The investigation into concussions in sports, specifically focusing on the AFL, is ongoing as a senate inquiry progresses. The Australian Football League (AFL) recently participated in the inquiry and provided their insights. The inquiry is scheduled to release its findings on August 2.
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