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Carlton under heavy fire from AFL greats over 'inexcusable' scenes involving Harry McKay

One AFL is demanding answers from the Blues after Sunday's drama.

andrew reid
·5-min read

AFL greats David King and Leigh Montagna have hit out after a dazed Harry McKay was allowed to play on for five minutes before being taken off for a head injury assessment in Carlton's 19-point win over North Melbourne on Sunday. McKay was crunched in a marking contest involving two Kangaroos defenders in the third quarter and appeared groggy after falling to the turf heavily in the collision.

McKay was helped up by Carlton teammates and appeared disoriented as he slowly got to his feet but the Blues sharpshooter was allowed to stay on the field. Normally a player would be made to leave the field to undergo a concussion test almost immediately after such an incident but the Blues' medical team were dealing with another situation in the sheds at the time and McKay stayed on the field.

Harry McKay in action for Carlton against North Melbourne.
Harry McKay appeared concussed, but stayed on the field a bit too long for viewers' liking. Image: Fox Footy/Getty

The Blues forward even managed to kick a goal before finally being taken from the field to undergo an HIA some five minutes after the initial incident. McKay ended up passing the test and came back on to kick another goal but the situation didn't sit well with many viewers including King and Montagna, who both suggested it was a terrible look to allow McKay to keep playing for as long as he did.

Pictured here is a dazed Harry McKay for Carlton during the win over North Melbourne.
It took five minutes for a dazed Harry McKay to come off for a head injury assessment for Carlton during the win over North Melbourne. Pic: Getty

“We’re not taking it seriously if a player can stand up and wobble and not be taken from the field for an assessment,” King said on Fox Footy’s First Crack. “I don’t care what the player does in terms of thumbs up, ‘yeah I’m fine’. It’s not his call. We’ve flipped the game on its head with tackling and bumping and every other small action is costing three weeks.

“We’ve stretched the fabric of our game to the nth degree and we’ve allowed this guy to appear concussed and play on for the next five minutes. Not good enough. We’re meant to have an AFL rep in the ARC demand a player come — where was that today? It took way too long. Five minutes is too long. If we’re going to take this on from all angles, this is an easy starting point. I think Carlton have a case to answer here and I wouldn’t be surprised if the AFL came down super hard on this tomorrow.”

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Leigh Montagna admitted the incident highlighted “a grey area” in the game for players and officials that needed to be cleared up. “When a player clearly looks like he’s had a situation, what is the rule? Is it a thumbs up? Is it come off the ground?” Montagna said. "That’s got to be cleared up for next year to be 100 per cent so everybody knows what happens in a situation where a player looks like he's been concussed or dazed.”

The Western Bulldogs faced similar backlash for allowing Tom Liberatore to stay on the field after appearing dazed against Essendon earlier in the season, before placing him in concussion protocols after the match due to delayed symptoms. And Port Adelaide were fined $100,000 last season for not giving Aliir Aliir a head injury assessment during a match against Adelaide, that also saw him enter concussion protocols the following week.

McKay said during the win over the Roos that he felt OK to continue playing and was in good spirits speaking with Fox Footy after the game. “I’m good, it was nice to get a 10-minute break there but I was fine, I think it was more precautionary and I’m feeling all good so it was all good,” McKay said. It’s not uncommon to get a few knocks to your shoulders and the back of your head but I was fine straight away, I kicked a goal straight afterwards so I don’t think I’d kick a goal if I didn’t feel great.”

Seen here, Carlton's Harry McKay is helped to his feet after being crunched in a collision against North Melbourne.
Carlton's Harry McKay was seen being helped to his feet after being crunched in a collision against North Melbourne. Pic: Getty

The win cemented second spot on the ladder for the Blues and Carlton coach Michael Voss said he was confident the club had followed the proper protocols, despite the backlash around how the McKay incident played out. “What I do know is that the protocol is there, and we were notified that we needed to get him off the ground, so we got him off the ground, and he went into those protocols,” Voss said after the game. “Fortunately, he was able to respond, he was OK and he was able to keep the game going.”

with AAP