AFL to introduce weekly contact training limits to reduce concussion

The AFL is set to introduce weekly limits to contact training in both the men's and women's competitions from 2027.

All clubs will be required to audit contact training and provide vision of sessions to the AFL upon request.

Measures start from a total limit of 120 minutes per week, including 60 minutes of high-intensity contact training.

The AFL will introduce limits on contact training for the 2027 men's and women's season in a bid to reduce concussion and head trauma.

All 18 clubs will be required to audit contact training and provide training vision to the AFL on request as part of regulations announced on Monday.

The measures dictate limits for the upcoming men's pre-season, with in-season training and an AFLW framework to be later introduced.

Set by week, measures start from a total limit of 120 minutes, which includes 60 minutes of high-intensity contact training.

From week five of pre-season, the standard limit will be a total of 160 minutes and 120 minutes of high-intensity training.

Clubs will not be allowed to put players through high-intensity contact training on consecutive days, with teams recommended to use these high-intensity drills sparingly across all contact levels.

Consulting across disciplines from coaches to club doctors and data analysts, the contact training limits follow the 2023 recommendations from the Victorian coroner's investigation into the death of former Richmond player Shane Tuck.

Tuck died by suicide in July 2020 and was subsequently diagnosed with the degenerative brain condition chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

A separate consultation process will commence in September to develop similar limits with adjustments for the AFLW.

These measures are not mandated for community football, with the league preparing the next release of its local football concussion guidelines.

Concussion and head trauma is one of the most pressing issues facing the AFL.

The training framework comes after the AFL last month fined Geelong $140,000 over Jake Kolodjashnij's concussion waiver.

In 2024, Geelong struck a secret agreement with Kolodjashnij whereby he took on legal responsibility for future brain trauma in a bid to exonerate the club and its medical staff from court action in the future.

Multiple players, including former Melbourne star Angus Brayshaw, champion West Coast defender Jeremy McGovern and premiership Magpie Nathan Murphy, were forced into retirement due to repeated concussions.

There is also a multi-million-dollar concussion class action case against the AFL, led by former Geelong defender Max Rooke, in the Supreme Court of Victoria that is set to go to trial next year.