AFL clubs have been told they must be more transparent with injury news in 2024 as part of increased access negotiated in the new CBA deal.
Sam Edmund believes the first test case of this will come this week as Geelong sits quiet on Cam Guthrie’s quad injury.
The veteran Cat went down in the first minutes of the club’s practice match with Carlton, but the club remains tight-lipped on the severity.
Speaking with former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley on SEN Breakfast, he and Edmund discussed why clubs feel the need to be so secretive.
It comes as teams like Geelong, Richmond and Essendon moved to listing injuries as short/medium/long term in recent years.
Edmund: “We know AFL clubs have been told they need to be more transparent with injuries and I reckon we are about to get our first real test with one of last year’s worst offenders in Geelong, who did pioneer the ‘short term’, ‘medium term’ and ‘long term’ terminology.”
“Now, Cam Guthrie has done his quad. How bad is it? They’re not off to a great start Geelong. I was out there watching this game, he went down like he had been shot.
“Then the explanation from Geelong came out ‘precautionary, quad’. How long is it going to be? Who knows, but I think we’re going to get our first little test. Why are clubs so secretive over long term injuries?”
Buckley: “Well firstly if you’re a Geelong fan, that’s not great news regardless of how it gets across. If you don’t have Joel Selwood, I reckon you need Cam Guthrie. He’s a heart and soul player and he brings an edge to that team. They missed him last year.”
“Having been in the inner sanctum, trying to communicate how long an injury is going to be, I don’t mind what Geelong are trying to do, because if you say it’s a three-week injury and they miss four, does that mean something’s gone wrong?”
Edmund: “No one’s that nit-picky, at least say 3-4 weeks or 6-8 weeks, they know. The high performance team would know. They’ve done the scans on Cam Guthrie. They know what he’s likely to miss. Short term, medium term and long term is taking the p---.”
“It’ll be interesting to see how clubs navigate it this year, whether they give a toss or whether it’s something they provide some transparency on.”
