2017 AFL Premiership Odds

[Webby]

Re: 2017 AFL Premiership Odds

I'm fairly sure that doctors say that helmets in football do little to prevent concussion. I'm no medical expert but I guess it makes sense - the brain is still going to get bounced around in the skull from a heavy hit. A helmet might prevent you from getting a fractured skull I guess.

They certainly don't do any harm, however!

I realise that compacted foam rubber has limitations and a forceful hit to the head is likely to impact in any case. However helmets can knock some of the edge off a blow. Particularly with the back of the head hitting the ground. If it takes even a single percent off an impact, surely it's worth it.

I wore a helmet in my younger days. It definitely helped to take the edge of surface impact. I stopped wearing it because it was so bloody hot and uncomfortable, and, if I'm honest, because none of the "cool kids" wore them...

I know in US football, they suffer numerous concussions despite wearing full motorcycle equivalent helmets. However this is in large part because the helmet's very existence has led to players throwing themselves into the play with greater abandon. That is due to the perceived protection from copping a split cheek or fractured skull. They even got to the stage where players were leading with the bloody things and using them as a virtual weapon (they've since brought in rule changes to combat this.)

However the brain is sitting inside the skull, suspended in fluid, so they have constant mild concussions as a result. Additionally, they hit harder and are bigger due to the game not being aerobic like Aussie Rules or rugby.

In rugby, helmets' or "head gear" are reasonably popular as they help to mitigate those horrible cauliflower ears and scratches to the head that they get.

In Aussie Rules, a full speed hip to the head or a Dipierdomenico elbow above the ear is likely to concus - helmet or no helmet. However the Ted Richards-type whiplash back of the head to the ground is certainly helped by the AFL helmet.

On that factor alone, I'd have McCartin in a helmet in a second! Every little bit helps!

[Axe Man]

Re: 2017 AFL Premiership Odds

I understand your points, I was just pointing out that they don't provide the protection against concussion that most people would probably assume they do.

You have also raised the other argument against helmets - players can tend to put their head in more dangerous positions due to a possibly ill-conceived sense of protection. It's an interesting argument for junior sport in particular, with no established answer.

That said, if I was McCartin I would probably wear a helmet. I'm Caleb Daniel sized and have played footy for almost 30 years without a helmet or a concussion, so I've been lucky.

[Twodogs]

Re: 2017 AFL Premiership Odds

Nathan Basset from the Crows also is another player.

I didn't know that. I just remembered Dirk Welham is a diabetic also but I may have made that one up. It sounds right,

[azabob]

Re: 2017 AFL Premiership Odds

I didn't know that. I just remembered Dirk Welham is a diabetic also but I may have made that one up. It sounds right,

Oh, from memory you like Jack Fitzpatrick from the Hawks? Maybe not the best case study but "full on" diabetic also.

[Ozza]

Re: 2017 AFL Premiership Odds

Being diabetic is like being pregnant - you either are, or you're not.

Type 1 diabetic is the insulin dependant type that is usually diagnosed when you're very young.
Type 2 is usually caused by lifestyle (weight/diet) and is non-insulin dependant and highly unlikely to occur in a professional sportsperson.

I think by 'full on' diabetic - ppl are referring to 'Type 1'.