Former great and controversial media pundit Kane Cornes has criticized the AFL for allowing Harry McKay to play for Carlton on Friday night, following a head knock incident earlier in the week.
McKay was dazed after colliding heads with North Melbourne’s Eddie Ford during the third quarter of Carlton’s Round 19 victory. The Blues faced criticism for letting McKay remain on-field for several minutes post-collision.
The AFL cautioned the Blues, but the club’s explanation that their doctors were busy treating Blake Acres and Sam Durdin was sufficient to avoid sanctions.
He kicked a goal after this incident, but Harry McKay has finally been sent into the rooms for an HIA.
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McKay passed his concussion test and continued playing in the final quarter, subsequently being cleared for the crucial game against Port Adelaide on Friday night.
However, Cornes expressed his disapproval in The Age, describing the AFL’s decision as “confusing at best and completely hypocritical and dangerous at worst.”
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“McKay’s clearance to play, despite clear signs of a head injury, highlights a troubling inconsistency in the AFL’s concussion guidelines,” Cornes wrote. “His dazed state should have led to immediate and strict concussion protocols, keeping him off the field and certainly out of this week’s game.”
Cornes cited past incidents where the AFL overruled club doctors, such as banning Adelaide captain Chelsea Randall from an AFLW semi-final in 2022 and forcing Tom Doedee to miss a week in 2021 despite club clearances. He emphasized that if the AFL decides to overrule club doctors, it should do so consistently.
“The AFL’s selective intervention is problematic,” Cornes wrote. “Their handling of McKay’s case is confusing at best, hypocritical and dangerous at worst.”
