On 7/24/2017 at 8:34 AM, Rodney (Balls) Grinter said:

mussels

 

A Brisbane player (Hutton) wore an odd looking helmet years ago. He was likened to an armadillo. 

On 24/07/2017 at 9:05 AM, Ouch! said:

Nathan Burke I suspect you are referring to.

I can't see a negative, and perhaps it might be more of a 'mental reminder' to him of remembering not to lead with the head, but agreed, I can't think of a negative other than how it looks  

I suspect the negative is that wearing a helmet may give the wearer a false sense of security and so, rather than attacking the play with more caution, they may in fact go in harder, increasing the risk of further concussions (particularly if helmets don't significantly slow down the rate at which the brain is forced against the inside of the skull).

On 7/24/2017 at 8:34 AM, Rodney (Balls) Grinter said:

I'm actually wondering about the logic in him wearing the head gear.  Quite counterintuitivly all that I have ever read is that the research says they are in effective in preventing concussions (something about the brain still floating around and hitting the inside of the skull, despite the padding from the helmet).

I actually wonder if the headgear is actually as much to remind Guss he has one (a head) and that it needs protecting, much like taping an ankle or a shoulder tells the mussels around it to tighten and that's the part which does the good.

The Hawks doctor was on the radio last week and went into quite a lot of details around concussion - he is the league's expert and was just about to head off to a world conference. Anyway, he was asked about helmets and basically said they could help prevent the impact type concussions (punches, ball hits etc) as they can help to soften the blows, the concussions caused by "shaking" where as you said the brain floats around and causes the injury the helmet would have no effect. 

The issue of repeat concussions was also brought up, and surprisingly he said that there not really connected as the brain has different areas which have different functions. So while there is a need to be careful, one concussion doesn't really lead to another or is connected with a previous one, good news for Gus I'd hope. 

Might explain why he's wearing the helmet, one of the concussions was from the ball hitting him on a wet day at Casey and another was from a hit behind play, so the helmet may have helped to lessen the blow in those instances. 

3 hours ago, hardtack said:

I suspect the negative is that wearing a helmet may give the wearer a false sense of security and so, rather than attacking the play with more caution, they may in fact go in harder, increasing the risk of further concussions (particularly if helmets don't significantly slow down the rate at which the brain is forced against the inside of the skull).

I think in this case that false sense of security would be balanced by what Gus has gone through. It might be a danger after a one-off but from what I've read he seemed to have become more hesitant as a response, so wearing the helmet might help to counteract that a bit. All about finding the right balance psychologically, which hopefully his game on the weekend will help with.

9 hours ago, Brownie said:

Platform boots may be the answer to get his head up higher

Can we give OMAC platform gloves for reaching a spoil?

8 hours ago, bingers said:

A Brisbane player (Hutton) wore an old looking helmet years ago. He was likened to an armadillo. 

That sounds like the sorts of helmet I have seen in Rugby Union.  

I know some rugby players who have less brains than an armadillo.

12 hours ago, ding said:

 

Yes, well, when you're an old garbo like me, your muscles do start to smell a bit like that.

Gus's dad (Mark) was interviewed on SEN this morning.  His comments: 

• Gus' recovery took longer than he (Mark) thought it would
• Gus's mum is thrilled he is wearing a helmet.  Cheekily added that Gus says (paraphrasing): he is wearing it just to please his mum. 
• Gus is in the frame to pay sooner rather than later.

Garry then said Dees' fans would lover to see him play on Sunday.  Mark did not give much away. 

Its good to hear his mum is happy about the helmet as earlier in the year Mark said she was quite distressed about the head knocks.  If a helmet helps Gus's frame of mind, be it confidence or not worrying his mum, then great.

Don't be surprised if he is selected tonight!

It will be great to see Gus on the G again.  It may take a few games to get into the swing of it but its great to know he would be ready for finals, if we get there...

11 minutes ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

Gus's dad (Mark) was interviewed on SEN this morning.  His comments: 

• Gus' recovery took longer than he (Mark) thought it would
• Gus's mum is thrilled he is wearing a helmet.  Cheekily added that Gus says (paraphrasing): he is wearing it just to please his mum. 
• Gus is in the frame to pay sooner rather than later.

Garry then said Dees' fans would lover to see him play on Sunday.  Mark did not give much away. 

Its good to hear his mum is happy about the helmet as earlier in the year Mark said she was quite distressed about the head knocks.  If a helmet helps Gus's frame of mind, be it confidence or not worrying his mum, then great.

Don't be surprised if he is selected tonight!

It will be great to see Gus on the G again.  It may take a few games to get into the swing of it but its great to know he would be ready for finals, if we get there...

I wouldn't be against him being selected but for me I think given everything he's been through it would still be prudent for him to continue at Casey. His position isn't something we're in dire need of at the minute and I think he still needs time to feel confident in his body again. 

Much as I would love to see him out on the G again. 

This can go either way if he plays.

Pros: Gets a sniff at a finals campaign (if we make it) unlikely to progress to far even if we do

Cons: One more head knock this year and it puts his career in real jeopardy. chance to get certainty that the concussion issue is settled by coming back next season. If he gets another knock next year his career isn't over given time elapsed since last one

Logic says he should wait. Passion to play is hard to ignore however.

22 minutes ago, Pates said:

I wouldn't be against him being selected but for me I think given everything he's been through it would still be prudent for him to continue at Casey. His position isn't something we're in dire need of at the minute and I think he still needs time to feel confident in his body again. 

Much as I would love to see him out on the G again. 

Agree, if he is played down back.  (Unless he comes in to cover an injured Salem)

A different story if he is played as a high half forward or the wing.  In his first year he showed a bit of speed down the wing and kicked a few goals from well inside 50.  He also knew where to perfectly place a kick for Jeffy to get out the back. He can find space and generally makes good decisions.

Gus may not be the best in the league on those 5 attributes but he offers more of them than our army of inside mids.  Not saying he will do all those in his first game back.  But we really need someone with those skills.

You are right, ideally he would spend more time at Casey.  It was always going to be Gus' call and I doubt the club would play him without involving his parents as the club have ensured that they are involved in each step of Gus' recovery.

I doubt the club nor his parents would take any chances with him. 

13 minutes ago, Demons1858 said:

This can go either way if he plays.

Pros: Gets a sniff at a finals campaign (if we make it) unlikely to progress to far even if we do

Cons: One more head knock this year and it puts his career in real jeopardy. chance to get certainty that the concussion issue is settled by coming back next season. If he gets another knock next year his career isn't over given time elapsed since last one

Logic says he should wait. Passion to play is hard to ignore however.

I don't understand this logic.

The majority of his head knocks came in the VFL.

If he is ready to go and in form he plays AFL, simple as that.

9 minutes ago, Is Dom Is Good said:

I don't understand this logic.

The majority of his head knocks came in the VFL.

If he is ready to go and in form he plays AFL, simple as that.

Because thats where he was when trying to get form and fitness after getting hit in the  AFL !!

its a moot point

I hope if/when Gus comes back supporters are patient if he takes a few games to work his way back.

Cause we were all saying similar things about Hogan a few weeks back, and look how long that lasted. Some want him to be traded FFS!

51 minutes ago, Is Dom Is Good said:

I don't understand this logic.

The majority of his head knocks came in the VFL.

If he is ready to go and in form he plays AFL, simple as that.

Point is that I would have preferred he took the year off after his last head knock despite desperately wanting his competitiveness on the field.

There are still many  unknown unknowns regarding the research on head knocks so best to play it safe. Too much to loss with another head knock

12 minutes ago, Demons1858 said:

Point is that I would have preferred he took the year off after his last head knock despite desperately wanting his competitiveness on the field.

There are still many  unknown unknowns regarding the research on head knocks so best to play it safe. Too much to loss with another head knock

Yeah I can understand that.

What I was referring to is if he is playing VFL then what is the difference to playing at AFL level?

He could get a concussion at either level so if he is good enough he should be playing AFL.

For what it's worth I think he will be selected this week.

40 minutes ago, Is Dom Is Good said:

Yeah I can understand that.

What I was referring to is if he is playing VFL then what is the difference to playing at AFL level?

He could get a concussion at either level so if he is good enough he should be playing AFL.

For what it's worth I think he will be selected this week.

from a time/load management point of view you might decide to play a bloke say only 50-60 mins. You can do this at VFL level with no earth shattering consequence.  Pick someone for the 1sts yo want them avail ALL game.

I would guess that concussion, aside from the period of generally feeling really awful for multiple days, doesn't actually limit ability to train, maintain fitness and so on. If so, then he might even be our freshest and fittest player going into the final rounds and finals round.

Does anyone know what his training load has been like?

19 minutes ago, beelzebub said:

from a time/load management point of view you might decide to play a bloke say only 50-60 mins. You can do this at VFL level with no earth shattering consequence.  Pick someone for the 1sts yo want them avail ALL game.

Better omit Clarry then.

1 hour ago, Is Dom Is Good said:

What I was referring to is if he is playing VFL then what is the difference to playing at AFL level?

There's a big difference.

Yes of course he could still get concussed at VFL level as he has been, sometimes it's plain bad luck.

However at AFL level the speed and intensity of the game is that much greater and require a quicker reaction time so it follows the chances of a concussion would be higher.

He's going to have to be exposed at the level again at some time, I guess the question is should it be now or should we leave it a bit longer.

3 minutes ago, rjay said:

There's a big difference.

Yes of course he could still get concussed at VFL level as he has been, sometimes it's plain bad luck.

However at AFL level the speed and intensity of the game is that much greater and require a quicker reaction time so it follows the chances of a concussion would be higher.

He's going to have to be exposed at the level again at some time, I guess the question is should it be now or should we leave it a bit longer.

VFL football is generally a much more contested and scrappy game due to smaller grounds, less skilled players and greater exposure to weather.

I agree that the intensity level at AFL is clearly a step up which translates to harder hits sometimes. 

But personally, I'd be much less worried about Gus playing an outside role on the wide expanses of the MCG vs a smaller suburban ground at VFL level where there are turnovers galore. I think we've missed his versatility and I'd actually bring him in for Tyson this week and give Garlett a bit of on ball time, (if the weather is good). We need to inject some pace in and skill in the middle of the ground.

Gussy has hit some form and I think this week would be a good one to bring him in. It'd give the group a lift as well as supporters.

 

Are you kidding about bringing him in!!

The standard between the Vfl and seniors is considerable.He needs to build confidence and consistency.look at all the players we bring up from the vfl with there high stats and get flogged in the seniors.NOT YET.

 

58 minutes ago, rjay said:

There's a big difference.

Yes of course he could still get concussed at VFL level as he has been, sometimes it's plain bad luck.

However at AFL level the speed and intensity of the game is that much greater and require a quicker reaction time so it follows the chances of a concussion would be higher.

He's going to have to be exposed at the level again at some time, I guess the question is should it be now or should we leave it a bit longer.

You could counter that by saying at AFL level there is less need to win your own footy as we have the inside players who could distribute the footy to a high half forward/wingman  (if that is where Gus lines up)  and the skill level to hit their targets. VFL footy on smaller grounds requires players to win their own ball, which is where the head knocks occur. If it's going to happen it will happen, regardless of the level.