Port Adelaide GM of footy Chris Davies has revealed the conversation between himself and the club’s doctor, Mark Fisher, straight after Zak Butters and Tom Jonas collided in Thursday night’s game.
Butters and Jonas clashed heads in the final quarter of the Power’s loss to Richmond at a stage when the game was still in the balance.
The two players hobbled to the bench bloodied and bruised, however the club did not put the players through a concussion test, with both reemerging onto the field less than ten minutes after the incident.
Dr. Fisher’s decision not to put the duo through concussion protocols was criticised in the aftermath, with Ken Hinkley needing to defend his medical staff from criticism in his post-match press conference.
Dr. Fisher communicated with Davies during the game at the MCG, who revealed the conversation between the two on SEN SA’s The Run Home.
“The communication routes between myself and Dr. Fisher was specifically around finding out whether they (Butters and Jonas) were going to be assessed for concussion,” Davies said.
“At that point in time, if they were (going to be assessed) and they were going to be off for that period of time, we would have done something different from a tactical perspective.
“But ‘Fish’ (Fisher) suggested up the line that neither player was going to be subject to the concussion test based on what he had seen of the incident itself, the discussion he had with both of the players on the bench and, importantly, looking at the footage of the incident as well.
“So that’s a decision that the team doctor makes in the heat of battle, it all happens pretty quickly and he needs to be able to make the right call, which obviously the doctor did.”
The AFL has since ticked off the Power’s decision to put the players back on the field.
Davies also provided an insight into Dr. Fisher’s thought process at the time, admitting it was a decision that had to be made quickly.
“Obviously both players were able to come off under their own steam, so in that situation having a look at the vision of the incident itself, (Fisher is) making a decision as to whether either of the players are showing any obvious symptoms of concussion, that’s lack of balance, blacking out, how big the hit was in the first place,” he added.
“So he's got to make a judgement call based on all that information ahead of him as to whether he then does a full-scale concussion test, which obviously in that situation would have seen the players off for a period of time.”
“It's not a split-second decision, but it’s certainly a decision that plays out over a short period of time, it’s based on the best available information he has which, last night, also included having a look back of the footage of the incident as well.”
Butters emerged from the incident with a minor crack in his cheekbone but is in no doubt for next week’s game against Sydney, while Davies also revealed Trent Dumont will face a stint on the sidelines with a calf injury suffered on Thursday.