The Cats are not the cultural beacon they once claimed to be

The penny finally dropped for both the Geelong Football Club and the AFL on Friday afternoon.

Whether the change of heart first came from chairmen or CEOs or spin doctors from both organisations is unclear, but suddenly all involved reached a collective acceptance that the concussion waiver affair was no storm in a teacup.

In fact, it was threatening to become a scandal. A scandal that could not go unpunished, unscrutinised, nor explained away by wishy-washy press releases.

Geelong president Grant McCabe described the now-removed waiver clauses as a “fail” and has launched a club-wide probe into why the document was not lodged with the AFL or the Players Association.

And the AFL, after a barrage of public criticism for double standards in not sanctioning Geelong, revealed on Friday afternoon that it had just sent the club a “please explain”. Due process – the club had after all breached AFL rules – came late on this occasion.

The revelation that the Geelong Football Club essentially gave Jake Kolodjashnij, a player with a history of brain injuries, the choice between no longer playing or signing a waiver to assume legal responsibility for any future concussions would be disturbing enough without the accompanying stench of what looks like a cover-up.

Not only did the Cats fail to lodge the document with head office back in 2024 after months of talks involving the player and his family saw it signed off and cleared by the Geelong board, when the story came to light this week the club initially denied it.

McCabe, one of the club directors who approved the document back in 2024, tried to claim the Cats’ actions aimed to create an extra layer of care for the player and “give him agency for the future”. But his wording was far stronger than Steve Hocking’s Thursday press release.

McCabe admitted: “There were a couple of clauses in there that never should have been written and issued. They were inappropriate.”

Of the non-lodgement of the contract to head office McCabe added: “That’s where we failed. It was a fail for us and not a good look for the game.” He also acknowledged that his CEO Hocking had used “a poor choice of words” when first questioned by the media regarding the Kolodjashnij waiver.

McCabe said he had been present when Hocking was first questioned several days ago by the Herald Sun’s Jay Clark. McCabe said Hocking had not so much denied the story about the Kolodjashnij waiver but struggled initially to recall the details. McCabe also acknowledged that it looked “sloppy” that the club had not yet been able to explain why it had not lodged the relevant paperwork with the AFL and the players’ association.

He has launched a review into what took place and is planning an emergency board meeting in the coming days.

This is not the first time in recent years that Geelong’s paperwork has been found wanting, nor its handling of poor behaviour among key personnel been underwhelming. That the Kolodjashnij affair implicates the new AFL chairman, Craig Drummond might explain the AFL’s initial response in playing down the incident.

McCabe said he did not accept that Geelong appeared to have initially escaped punishment due to Drummond’s involvement but conceded, “I can see your reasoning and why you might explore that thread.” He said Drummond had contacted the club on Thursday to discuss their public response to the revelations. Drummond did not return calls from this masthead.

Nor did McCabe rule out recalling former directors – including his predecessor Drummond – to decipher exactly who knew what. McCabe himself said he did not know at the time that the document had not been lodged with the correct channels.

The penny seemed to drop also at head office on Friday afternoon. The revelation in the Herald Sun this week initially had all the major players ducking for cover. AFL boss Andrew Dillon and his concussion lieutenant Laura Kane had said nothing while the politically panicked organisation released a motherhood statement shortly before the first bounce of Thursday night football.

James Gallagher, the AFLPA boss who had at least forced the AFL to pledge that the Kolodjashnij waiver would never be repeated, was the only major player agreeing to front the media. That all changed by mid-afternoon Friday when Dillon made himself available for Saturday radio interviews.

The AFL, for all its obsession with “optics”, has been poorly served by its media advisors over this and not for the first time over the past two seasons.

Just as Laura Kane was let down last year by the advice she received over the Lachie Schultz concussion incident against Fremantle – you may recall that involved four consecutive press releases – her successor Greg Swann was equally poorly advised regarding the much-ridiculed Monday memo he sent to clubs about resting of players. But the lack of transparency on this occasion has been so poor.

Back to the true heart of the issue at hand. It is simply not acceptable for McCabe to suggest that he has yet to unearth the Cats’ governance failings. McCabe said he is seeking all the relevant documents involving Kolodjashnij’s contractual waiver that was only removed once the incident became public. He added that some staff involved were on leave.

The Cats have known all week that they were about to be exposed, and appear late to the party regarding investigations and special board meetings. It also remains unclear what role, if any, Geelong’s former chief operating officer – now working at head office as general manager of club finance —played in signing off on the player waiver and the failure to lodge it.

McCabe told this masthead the term investigation was a “heavy” one to describe what he was launching. He would do well to widen the frames of reference of whatever it is he is launching.
And for club bosses, for all the Cats’ success, to acknowledge that this latest transgression — albeit one that occurred two years ago – is the latest in a pattern of behaviour that would suggest the Geelong Football Club is not the cultural beacon it once claimed to be.

Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter.