'I have lost basically everything': Ex-AFL player opens up on compensation fight

At 18, Aiden O'Driscoll was living out his childhood AFL dream.

In November 2023, the teen had been drafted to the Western Bulldogs.

When he walked into the football club for the first time, he felt elated — like he belonged.

"I was like, this is actually real now. I'm an AFL player — this is who I am," O'Driscoll said.

"I can train every day. I can work my butt off to then be a better player.

"All the Bulldogs boys were so welcoming and it felt like another family."

But less than three months later, on a warm January day, he was playing in his first AFL practice match when he suffered a sickening "head-on-head" collision with another player that would change his life.

"I was hit … right behind the ear," O'Driscoll tells the ABC.

"It actually left a fracture behind my ear as well. So, it was a massive hit.

"I had a seizure … and I woke up in an ambulance."

An MRI would later reveal that the hit left him with multiple brain bleeds.

The incident shattered his AFL dream, his quality of life and now, like many former footballers, he is in a fight for compensation.

Players lose insurance coverage for brain injuries

Aiden is just one of scores of AFL players unable to play after suffering severe head trauma.

Such is the scale of the brain injury issue in the AFL, the league is facing a class action involving around 100 former footballers, and no insurers are willing to offer current players group coverage for concussion-related injuries.

The number of claims over the past five years has led Zurich Australia, the insurer for the AFL Players' Association superannuation fund, to axe Total and Permanent Disablement (TPD) insurance coverage for head trauma from May 1.

While O'Driscoll's injury was before the deadline, he is still in the process of finalising his claim and will be compensated if his claim is successful.

O'Driscoll was officially retired by the AFL on medical grounds in April 2024.

He says he was shocked when AFL doctors showed him his MRI, pointed out his brain bleeds and explained what they meant.

"To see that's my brain after one hit was a shock, a massive shock," he says.

An AFL medical panel's report in April 2024 revealed the gravity of O'Driscoll's injury.

"Aiden has more micro-haemorrhages than the panel has seen in other athletes with concussion," they wrote in a document seen by the ABC.

"The panel recommends that Aiden should not return to contact sport in the future."

O'Driscoll was bereft after he received the news. He broke down to his mum, who had accompanied him to the meeting.

"[I said] to Mum, this is it, I'm done, what did I do to deserve this, why is life being so cruel to me?" he remembers.

The AFL Players Association (AFLPA) offers a career-ending injury payment of up to $500,000 for players forced into retirement due to injuries sustained while playing or training.

O'Driscoll pocketed a career-ending injury payment of over $150,000, but, like many brain-injured footballers struggling to work, he is exploring other compensation options.

In addition, the AFLPA's Severe Injury Benefit (SIB) fund provides payments of up to $600,000 for those left permanently injured by the game and unable to work full-time.

O'Driscoll applied for a payout from the fund but recently learned his application had been rejected.

In his failed submission to the AFLPA, he said the injury had left him with "mental health battles" and "impacts everyday life, having to deal with ongoing symptoms and constantly thinking about the trauma, along with now having worries about what the future looks like".

As it stands, he feels "lonely" and concerned for his future.

"I feel like I have lost basically everything," O'Driscoll told the ABC.

He often finds himself breaking down for 15 minutes at a time in heaving sobs.

O'Driscoll says he still lives with dizziness, nausea, anxiety and has difficulty sleeping.

He says his life is filled with "grief" about what could have been and "lost friendships".

"It's heartbreaking because to work so hard to get to where I was and to have it ripped away like that, it is not fair," O'Driscoll says.

The AFLPA said in a rejection letter dated March 31 that O'Driscoll's bid for compensation via its Severe Injury Benefit fund was rejected on the basis that he failed to demonstrate a "permanent impairment of cognitive function" that had resulted in his future earning capacity to normal retirement age being reduced by at least 40 per cent.

The letter said he could ask for a review of the decision.

Calls for AFL to step up

Peter Jess, a player agent who is acting on behalf of O'Driscoll, said he would be appealing the AFLPA's SIB fund decision on O'Driscoll's behalf.

"As an employer, [his treatment] has been appalling. [The AFL] have abrogated their responsibility for him," Mr Jess said.

"Basically, they have said, well, it's not the industry's problem, it is a societal problem."

"If you go to work and you get hurt, you expect that your employer would then have a proper compensation scheme for any damage that it creates at your workplace," Mr Jess said.

"This is not the case."

Mr Jess said he was unsurprised by insurance companies refusing to insure footballers for brain injuries.

He said the AFL needed to take greater responsibility for compensating players.

Currently, AFL players fund the SIB fund from their cut of the AFL's revenue.

AMP, which is the trustee for the AFLPA super fund, said the removal of insurance coverage was driven by high claim volumes over the last five years.

Zurich Australia has previously told the ABC there was "widespread uncertainty" around the potential magnitude of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) and the long-term effects of concussion.

Players are also no longer insured for issues like post-concussion syndrome and "mental disorders" linked to head knocks.

In a statement to the ABC, AMP said no insurer was currently willing to provide group coverage for head trauma for AFL players through the super fund.

"Our thoughts are with the players and families affected by these injuries. It is a complex issue across professional sport, and as the AFL players' superannuation provider, we worked hard to explore all possible options in the insurance market," an AMP spokesperson said.

"Whilst Zurich continues to provide insurance to players through the super fund, unfortunately, no insurer was able to provide group cover for these injuries."

The AFLPA said it did not comment on individual SIB applications.

The AFLPA provided a statement to the ABC on the recent insurance change and its hopes for the SIB fund.

"AFL and AFLW players take on significant risk when playing our game and their health, safety, and wellbeing continue to be the AFLPA's highest priority," a spokesperson said.

"While the recent changes to Zurich's group Death and TPD insurance policy within the AMP superannuation plan are disappointing, they reflect the trends we have observed within the insurance market and are outside the AFLPA's control."

It said that in the past 12 months, its Injury and Support Fund had delivered more than $8 million in support to past players, "providing a comprehensive range of programs and benefits aimed at strengthening physical and emotional wellbeing", including the Severe Injury Benefit.

"Notably, one in three Alumni members has accessed AFLPA support services in the last decade, all of which are funded through the current players' share of industry revenue," the spokesperson said.

"Given these material changes to insurance, the AFLPA continues to explore all options to enhance the support systems for current and past players as well as what the game can do to better support its people."

The Western Bulldogs has yet to respond to questions.

The AFL has declined to comment on Peter Jess's claims and the compensation issue.

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