Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has come under fire for denying Tom Liberatore was concussed in the club’s loss to Essendon on Friday, despite the star player collapsing onto the turf at Marvel Stadium.
Essendon bounced back from their AFL Gather Round horror show with a runaway 29-point win over the Western Bulldogs.
The loss was compounded by the incident involving Liberatore late in the contest, with the veteran falling to the ground and laying prone for several seconds, with a concerned Darcy Parish rushing to his aid.
In stunning scenes, Liberatore got back to his feet and played out the match.
Western Bulldogs star Tom Liberatore falls to the turf at Marvel Stadium where he is assisted by Essendon player Darcy Parish
Liberatore had been involved in a number of tough collisions, including bumps from Todd Goldstein and Jake Stringer
Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge played down the incident and said Liberatore had stumbled because of an ankle concern, not because of concussion
Liberatore had been subject to some heavy knocks in the match, including a collision with Todd Goldstein that resulted in a free kick for the Essendon big.
He also copped a bump from Essendon star Jake Stringer just before the fall and was clearly dazed when he returned to his feet.
‘To stagger after a contest like this, that does not look good. (Bulldogs doctor) Gary Zimmerman would be having a close look at that. That is troubling,’ former Hawthorn Ben Dixon told Fox Footy Live.
After the match, Beveridge played down the incident and said Liberatore had simply tripped.
‘He’s fine. For some reason he lost his footing and stumbled, but he’s fine. He’s being looked after and there’s no concussion or anything like that,’ he said.
But fans were not buying it, calling for action to be taken against the Bulldogs coach.
He for real? This is negligence, and super concerning for a senior coach to gloss over a bloke that exhibited delayed concussion symptoms,’ one fan posted on social media.
‘You don’t need to be a doctor or even Einstein to clearly see what’s occurred given the case studies we’ve seen in recent times.’
As the players stood on the pitch following the fulltime siren, Liberatore still struggled to stay on his feet
All was forgiven at fulltime with Liberatore sharing an embrace with Stringer who had delivered the tough bump moments before he collapsed
Channel 7’s chief football reporter Mitch Cleary spoke to Liberatore after the match and said the star player was also playing down any concussion concerns.
‘(Liberatore) said it was an ankle tweak and he lost balance,’ Cleary said.
Liberatore also blamed the ankle and said he had no concussion symptoms.
‘Nah everything’s good,’ he told ABC in a post-match interview.
‘I lost balance in the ankle. I tweaked the ankle at the start of the last quarter.
‘When I got up, I fell back down. It’s all good.
‘No symptoms [of concussion] and full recollection.’
However fans said the nature of the fall showed there was more to it than a simple stumble or trip.
‘Totally normal way to fall if you’re not concussed,’ one fan posted.
‘Clearly hit on the head in a bump, collapses ten seconds later, runs around clearly dazed and confused for the rest of the game – ‘ankle’,’ posted another.
‘Way to cover for your medics not going out and checking him.’
Other fans pointed out that Essendon’s Parish would not have waved to the bench for medics if the incident was just Liberatore losing his footing.
‘This response from Bevo deserves a please explain from the AFL considering how the head is sacrosanct. No chance Parish reacts that way if Libba simply ‘stumbled’,’ one posted on social media.
The AFL introduced a 12-day concussion policy in 2023 and retained the policy for the 2024 season.
The league also released the Strategic Plan for Sport-Related Concussion Management in Australian Football in 2023, detailing strategy through to 2026.
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