"Shouldn't exist": AFLPA CEO speaks out against Geelong's concussion waiver

The AFLPA’s CEO James Gallagher has spoken for the first time since Jake Kolodjashnij was publicly named as the player who signed a secret concussion waiver with the Geelong Cats.

The 30-year-old came forward on Friday, confirming he had spoken with Geelong back in 2024, which saw an agreement struck between the two where the club did not have any legal risk for any future concussions/head trauma he could potentially suffer.

Following the revelation, the AFL confirmed that the waiver is no longer valid and has issued the club a please explain over the incident.

But as Gallagher notes, this waiver should have never been in place to begin with, irrespective of who approached who about this arrangement.

"I think for us, it actually doesn't really matter who approached or how it came to be," he told AFL Nation.

"I think we've been really clear that the document just shouldn't have been in place and that's ultimately the conversations we've been having with both the AFL and with Geelong in recent days.

"At the end of the day, the document is seeking to, I guess, change the rights and entitlements of a player; that just shouldn't exist.

"And so it comes down to both sides have ultimately entered into it, and we just shouldn't have been in that position."

Following the initial revelation, it was reported that were was a second case of a similar vein at an interstate club.

However, Gallagher admitted that he was not aware of it at this stage but noted that the AFL had investigated the matter further after learning of Kolodjashnij's agreement.

"We're not aware of something similar at AFL level," he explained.

"I know when this first came to both us and the AFL, it wasn't clear, club or player.

"I believe that was interrogated by the AFL in the following days.

"So, you know (there is) some confidence, but what I am confident about is because of that really clear statement yesterday, these things would need to be approved, and any changes to the collective agreements would need to be approved, and things like this, ultimately won't get through that process.

"That gives me some real confidence moving forward and probably not the same confidence we might have had a couple of days ago."