AFL to limit contact training from next season; Voss gives his verdict on Fraser’s future

AFL clubs have been told contact training limits will be introduced next year, with a consultation group established to determine official parameters for future training programs.

The limits will apply from the start of the 2027 pre-seasons for both AFL and AFLW.

The decision to address contact training limits came after the 2023 inquest into the death of former Tiger Shane Tuck led to recommendations from state coroner John Cain that the league should limit contact training to reduce concussion risk.

Since that recommendation, the AFL has worked with clubs to better understand concussion risk at training and have been reviewing training programs regularly to improve their design from a safety perspective. They have also worked to categorise particular drills according to their contact status, with full match simulation graded differently to warm-up drills. The AFL developed six definitions to classify contact training, ranging from non-contact drills to high-density contact drills.

During the process, the league suggested ways to reduce risk in real time, with clubs now sharing examples of when incidents occur to ascertain how such situations may have been avoided.

Much of the work has focused on addressing the design of training, rather than its volume, with Laura Kane, who has healthcare and concussion in her football portfolio, telling club CEOs on the Gold Coast this week of the research. Kane also praised clubs for their collaboration and willingness to make healthcare a key part of a football department’s remit.

The research showed there was a higher risk of concussion during pre-season training sessions than in-season, although the Kangaroos’ Finn O’Sullivan missed rounds 13 and 14 after suffering a concussion in a clash with ruckman Tristan Xerri at training.

Former Bulldog Aiden O’Driscoll had to retire after being concussed in a collision during pre-season training not long after being drafted in November 2023.

The research conducted since 2024 showed, importantly, there was no link between increased contact training and football performance.

The contact-training consultation group will meet for the first time next week and be made up of club officials involved in establishing programs including football directors, assistant coaches, doctors, and high-performance managers as well as player association and AFL representatives.

The AFL Commission would need to approve the recommendations from the group.
– Peter Ryan

Voss speaks on Fraser’s chances of landing Carlton job

Oliver Caffrey (AAP)

Former Carlton coach Michael Voss expects Josh Fraser to be put through the Blues’ coaching search.

Despite Fraser immediately ruling himself out of becoming Carlton’s next coach when taking over from Voss, the former Collingwood ruckman is putting together a compelling case to continue beyond this season.

The Blues appeared to be in an unsalvageable hole at 1-8, but Carlton have rushed into contention for a wildcard berth following five consecutive wins under Fraser.

West Coast premiership coach Adam Simpson joined a panel with Carlton chief executive Graham Wright, football boss Chris Davies and Blues president Rob Priestley to help select the club’s next senior coach.

But Carlton’s leaders will be wary of “the Teague Train” experience, when interim coach David Teague won the job full-time after coming home with a rush in 2019 following Brendon Bolton’s sacking.

Teague lasted just two seasons before being sacked at the end of 2021, creating the opening for Voss.

In his first interview since speaking on the day he stepped away as Blues coach in May, Voss gave an insight into how the club might be leaning.

“The only reason you don’t entertain it is a fear of recurrence, we don’t go for it [an interim coach] again because it didn’t work in the past,” Voss told 3AW on Wednesday.

“I’d be surprised if he [Fraser] wasn’t put through the process, at the very least.”

Voss will step back into football commitments on Thursday night when he starts a commentary role with Fox Footy.

“Some of it’s difficult to watch because you’re not there,” Voss said of Carlton’s surge in form since he quit.

“You’ve invested five years of your time and effort, sweat, blood, tears into that group.

“On another level, it’s hugely rewarding.”

The Brisbane Lions premiership hero also was emphatic about not wanting to coach again.

‘There have been dark moments’: Merrett opens up on emotional year

Jon Pierik

The Bombers have just one win (and only two from their past 28 matches), and are now led by interim coach Dean Solomon.

Merrett suggested it had taken a toll.

“I was probably naive … to the amount of chatter and focus and noise that would present this year. I think a lot of it’s been justified, in some it’s probably borderline, crossed the line, with the obsessive nature of some personalities in the media,” he said at the launch of the AFL’s kids footy month.

“But, as I said before, I get to rock up every day, do my dream job. There is, obviously, so much greatness that comes with footy, and so much fun and enjoyment and passion. That five per cent [negativity] is probably at the cost of 95 per cent. So, I understand, it is what it is. That’s what I love doing.

“But, yeah, there have been some dark moments, no doubt.”

Merrett, a six-time Crichton medallist, said he had addressed the criticism with two prominent media figures.

“They judge how I am playing, I am not going to criticise their views, that’s their opinions. Maybe if they could back it up with some data, that would be nice … They don’t know what my intent is, what I am doing nine to five Monday to Friday. They are paid to have opinions,” he said.

“I have had a few exchanges with a couple of people in the media, behind closed doors, which can remain there. There have been a few things that have been amiss, an imbalance of reporting, that’s been a bit frustrating.”

Television and radio commentator Kane Cornes has been a vocal critic, accusing Merrett of “giving up” in a brutal assessment of his performance against North Melbourne earlier this season.

Typically a high-possession midfielder, Merrett, averaging 28.4 disposals per game, has spent more time at half-back under Solomon.

Merrett said he wanted to be a “more rounded player” and there were areas of his game he was “trying to get better weekly”.

“I feel a bit like I’ve been treading water a little bit, running in quicksand, the last month,” he said.

“It’s been a pretty emotional time, as I said, with Brad. We got the bye last week, which was nice, just to get away and spend a week away with my son and my wife, and just mentally and emotionally delve down and process the last few weeks.”

Potentially facing his eighth new coach [including interims] since he was a second-round draft selection in 2013, Merrett said the Bombers did not need an “Essendon person” to take charge permanently.

Club great and former coach James Hird and Solomon are two of the prominent names linked to the job. Solomon has yet to declare his interest, while Hird has made clear his intentions to step back in charge for a third time.

Bombers president Andrew Welsh is working towards confirming a coaching subcommittee, and the criteria.

Merrett said Hird and Solomon would each be excellent senior coaches, and stressed “connection” with players was the key element a coach needed when dealing with today’s players.

He said Solomon had shown an ability to not only connect with players and build confidence, but tactically had tightened the Bombers’ leaky defence.

Solomon has lost all three games since replacing Scott, the Bombers also impacted by a long injury list.

Merrett said the fact Hird had spent considerable time out of the AFL system over the past decade was not an issue, pointing out he would have a team of assistants and “it’s pretty easy to fast track any bit of technical elements”.

“He’s got an amazing footy brain, he’s great with people … I can’t see any problems with James returning,” Merrett said.

Hird has had two stints as coach, the first from 2011 to 2013, the latter year marred by the supplements’ scandal which led to his suspension by the AFL. He returned in 2015, but parted ways before the season was done.

He spent time as an assistant coach with the Giants in 2022 when former teammate Mark McVeigh was interim coach. He has impressed as the director of coaching at VFL club, Port Melbourne.

Hird last week spoke at a fundraiser for men’s mental health, declaring he had the “fire in me to do something special” should he win the top role.
– Jon Pierik

AFL’s future structure still undecided

Sam McClure

Tom Harley said the AFL would continue to canvass the views of club chief executives, coaches and football bosses before settling on a fixture model for Tasmania’s entry in 2028, describing collaboration with clubs as “important” and revealing league executives had spent recent days discussing options with senior football figures.

The AFL is weighing up four models for the competition’s future structure once the Devils enter the competition, ranging from a traditional home-and-away season through to more radical concepts including a group-stage competition and a standalone in-season tournament.

While the presidents spent part of their annual conference discussing the options, Harley indicated the league was still some way from reaching a conclusion, conceding there were “reasonably divergent views” among club leaders about the best path forward.

“We’ve had the last couple of days before CEOs, and talked daily to GM[s] of football and senior people,” Harley, the league’s chief operating officer said.

“Whether we strike on all the discussions is to be determined, but collaboration’s important.”

Harley said the AFL would continue to “iterate some of those options” as it worked through feedback from clubs, with the league needing to have a model settled by round one, 2028.

The AFL’s four options are understood to be a 22-game season followed by finals, a 24-game season followed by finals, a 20-game season followed by a group stage before finals, or a 20-game season with finals and a separate in-season tournament.

Harley also revealed presidents had been briefed on changing demographic trends and the evolving expectations of sports fans, saying the AFL needed to consider “what future fans might want as well” as it shapes the next era of the competition.

League HQ clarifies its stance on the Melbourne court case

Sam McClure

Harley also faced questions about the AFL’s decision not to launch an integrity investigation into the Melbourne matter now before the Federal Court, with the league’s chief operating officer offering the clearest explanation yet of how the decision was made.

The court proceedings were launched by Sachi Dade, the partner of ex-Melbourne premiership player Steven May, who alleges club officials invaded her privacy by disclosing sensitive personal information to players’ partners during a February Teams meeting. The Demons, coach Steven King and football boss Allan Richardson are defending the claims.

Asked why the AFL chose not to investigate despite being alerted to the issue by the AFL Players’ Association, Harley stressed the matter was now before the courts and said the league’s approach had been determined in consultation with relevant stakeholders at the time.

“It’s an open matter at the moment, of course,” Harley said. “The conversations that we’ve had with the players’ association … that decision was made in real time, in consultation with all the relevant parties.”

Harley was then pressed on what threshold the AFL applies when determining whether an integrity investigation should be launched, particularly given questions raised by some within the industry about why the league did not conduct its own inquiry into the circumstances now being litigated.

His answer suggested the AFL’s integrity processes are fundamentally complaint-driven.

“Fundamentally, it’s a complaint,” Harley said. “We do ask very pointedly: ‘Are you making a complaint?’”

The comments provide an insight into the AFL’s reasoning at a time when the league’s handling of the matter is increasingly under scrutiny.

It seems the AFL viewed the issue through the lens of whether a formal complaint had been made, rather than whether the allegations warranted an investigation initiated by the league.

That position is likely to prompt further debate, given the AFL’s integrity unit has, on other occasions, exercised its discretion to investigate matters of broader interest to the competition without waiting for formal complaints to be lodged.

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