‘Some clubs have got that wrong’: Inside the AFL’s growing injury toll

AFL footy in 2024 is taking a heavy toll. Currently, there are nearly 150 players on the competition’s injury lists. Many injuries are minor, and some are being managed – a relatively recent concept – but some players won’t ever be back.

The AFL’s data shows little change from last year to this. At this stage in 2023, it had logged 286 injuries that caused players to miss matches. This year, it is 258. Of these, a quarter is soft tissue: hamstrings, calves and quads mostly. These figures note nine ACLs, which is at variance with the club-by-club injury lists on the AFL’s own website, showing 18 season-ending knee injuries.

Conversely, Sydney have the most players who have appeared in every game and made the fewest changes and sit a game-and-a-half clear on top of the ladder. Geelong, beset last year, have taken a more conservative approach than other clubs when resting players and began this season with seven straight wins before a four-loss lull.

Birch noted another factor that would weigh into the stats. “This year, we’ve seen a lot more players being managed, particularly older players and players who are more prone to injury,” she said. “That’ll become more of a thing to protect players from soft-tissue injuries. That’s important so that players don’t miss six weeks at a time with big soft-tissue injuries.”The concern runs wider and deeper than heads and hamstrings.

Initiatives in recent years – fewer interchanges, for instance – are meant to make it harder for fatigued players to get from contest to contest, reduce congestion and soften collisions when they occur, but increase the risk of soft-tissue injuries. And the game continues to speed up anyway. “Every old player I talk to says the same: it’s so much faster than when I played,” said Larkins.Birch said the game was not to blame.

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