AFL player who retired at just 24 claims league’s former expert misdiagnosed his brain injuries

A retired AFL star has accused the league’s former concussion expert of misdiagnosing the head injuries that led to his exit from the sport.

Kade Kolodjashnij hung up his boots in 2020, aged 24, after suffering up a string of concussions and the former Gold Coast and Melbourne winger says he was ‘gobsmacked’ by the treatment he received from Paul McCrory. 

Kolodjashnij, who has volunteered to take part in the AFL’s independent review of McCrory’s conduct, says he once played just three days after a subconcussive episode.

Kade Kolodjashnij has accused a former AFL concussion expert of downplaying his injuries

He also claims that on another occasion, he took to the field two weeks on from a gruesome knee to the head which saw him stretchered off.

McCrory treated Kolodjashnij in 2017 – where he advised him to sit out the remainder of the season – but the now 26-year-old says that when he returned in 2018, the expert cleared him to play and said the winger had neck issues, rather than brain-related injuries. 

He was also told that psychological factors were at play, as well as migraines. 

‘I had intense symptoms like headaches and dizziness and nausea so I ultimately couldn’t train or play,’ Kolodjashnij told The Herald Sun of his 2018 appointment with McCrory.

The ex-Gold Coast and Melbourne star retired from footy in 2020 following a string of head-related injuries

However, the winger was told that his dizziness was a result of a neck problem as well as psychological issues

‘I went and consulted Paul and expected the worst with him advising that I couldn’t play again or would have to sit out for an extended period of time.

‘He did similar testing although this time not brain scans — balance and a basic Q&A — and this time he diagnosed that my neck was too weak and that it wasn’t about concussion.

‘I left the meeting gobsmacked, but also excited that I could play. I mentioned to the doctor that I could play next week and he was gobsmacked by that comment, too. 

‘I was traded to Melbourne (for the 2019 season) and they took me on thinking the issue was my neck and then early on I had a subconcussive hit and didn’t pull up well at all.

‘I couldn’t get out of bed, couldn’t get to the supermarket, couldn’t even have light walks without headaches and dizziness.

‘I opted not to see Paul again because I didn’t trust his advice.’

Kolodjashnij visited another AFL concussion expert in 2019 as he could not get through training sessions with his concussion symptoms. He was told again that the issue could be neck-related.

The former winger says he was ‘gobsmacked’ by the treatment he received from Paul McCrory

He then saw an AFL-appointed panel at the end of the 2019 season, where he was taken aback by the experts’ response once more. 

‘I felt like the meeting didn’t go the way I expected it to,’ he added. ‘I definitely felt the issue was subconcussive hits, having been knocked out and concussed before,’ he said of the meeting with the concussion panel.

‘They brought it back to psychological reasons and told me to see a psychologist for support and migraines. I had never had a migraine in my life.

‘The club doctor was in disbelief at what they had to say. At the start of 2020 I saw a migraine specialist and they said within five minutes of seeing them, “You don’t have migraines”.’

Kolodjashnij now says he is battling anxiety issues which could be related to his concussion injuries, and insists that he has no qualms with his treatment by club doctors. 

‘The club doctors were great. They understood where I was coming from as a person and there was no pressure from coaches to get out there.

‘But it is more about my dissatisfaction from the AFL and what they advised. I felt like they didn’t believe in concussions in a way, which was quite insane.’