Peter Jess represents a group of 135 former VFL and AFL players diagnosed with long-term neurological problems – ‘the most catastrophic events are the behavioural and mood issues’
The last time I spoke to Peter Jess, he broke down midway through the conversation. Sorry, he said, in that reflexive way people do when they’re trying to fight back their tears, but it had been a long, hard day. Jess is a sports agent in Australia and his head was still wrapped up in a phone call he’d just had with one of his clients, a retired player suffering from a long-term brain injury and struggling badly with depression. It had been a tough conversation, and taken a lot out of both of them. Jess has had a lot of those in the past decade.
Right now all the attention is on the long-term effects of head trauma in rugby union, but, Jess says: “There’s compelling evidence in all countries that tells us these collision-based sports are creating long-term neurological trauma for past, present and future players.”
