Jake Kolodjashnij has identified himself as the Geelong player who secretly signed a concussion waiver without the AFL or AFL Players’ Association’s knowledge.
In a statement issued via Geelong on Friday evening, Kolodjashnij said he felt he wanted to be unmasked.
“While I appreciate the efforts made not to identify me, the speculation has left me feeling I needed to address this personally,” the statement reads.
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“I participated fully in the AFL’s independent concussion panel process, respected its independence, and was comfortable with the outcome. I have continued playing AFL football since.
“What disappoints me most is that my private medical information has been made public. Everyone deserves the right to keep their confidential medical information private.
“I want to thank my family, the AFLPA, my manager, my teammates and the football club for their support over the past 24 hours.
“I am healthy, feeling good, and focused on playing my role for the team for the remainder of the season.”
Geelong avoided sanction from the AFL over the secret arrangement struck in 2024, which was only revealed on Thursday, with a previously undisclosed player.
The player, who we now know as Kolodjashnij, signed an agreement taking on legal responsibility for future brain trauma in a bid to exonerate the club and its medical staff from court action down the line.
Kolodjashnij has suffered several head knocks in his career, most notably in 2022, when he had multiple, and in 2024.
His twin brother, Kade Kolodjashnij, was medically forced to retire from the AFL at age 24 due to repeated concussions.
Speaking in 2023 after a wretched 12 months of head knocks, Kolodjashnij said he was prepared to sit out six months of football if his symptoms didn’t subside.
“I probably didn’t pull up as good as I had from my previous concussions throughout my career so I had the approach of if I had to sit out six months then so be it,” he said at the time.
“I was lucky enough my symptoms settled down and I worked with the club and went through the process there and made sure I was ticked off to play and wasn’t putting myself at risk, so credit to the footy club there.
“At the end of the day you have to put your health first. We obviously love footy and love winning games of footy, but when it comes to that stuff and your brain, you only have one brain so you have to look after it.”
Little more than an hour before Kolodjashnij’s statement, Geelong CEO Steve Hocking said the then-unnamed player wanted to remain anonymous.
“The player’s been through a lot already, and we’re mindful of that as a football club,” he said.
“Quite clearly, some of the decision-making has dragged him into that, so we’re conscious of that.
“But no, at this point in time, the player would prefer to be confidential.”
Hocking admitted the club should have made the AFL and the AFL Players’ Association aware of the document.
“I take responsibility for the fact that we didn’t lodge it with the AFL and the PA,” Hocking said.
Asked if there was a reason the club didn’t lodge it with the relevant parties, Hocking said: “No, there’s no reason, it was just a misstep in the process.”
Hocking said the agreement was the result of an extensive process over two months, adding that Kolodjashnij’s representatives were involved, including his family and the club’s medical team.
Calling it a “complex and unique case” in a statement on Thursday, the AFL insisted it was “satisfied that the letter was not used by Geelong to allow a medically unfit player to return to play”.
