Geelong stands down Kolodjashnij as AFL concussion waiver scandal deepens
Geelong has confirmed Jake Kolodjashnij will be unavailable for selection at AFL or VFL level this weekend, as the club faces an AFL investigation into a secret concussion waiver the defender signed two years ago ABC News.
The Cats released a statement late on Tuesday confirming Kolodjashnij would not be considered for selection, closing a turbulent five days that began last Thursday when the existence of the waiver was first reported. Kolodjashnij, 31, has since gone public as the player at the centre of the controversy.
The waiver, which has now been removed from Kolodjashnij's contract, effectively shifted legal responsibility for any future brain trauma onto the player himself. In plain terms, he agreed to indemnify Geelong and its medical staff against potential court action linked to head injuries — a document neither the AFL nor the AFL Players Association ever saw.
Geelong had until the end of Tuesday to respond to an AFL "please explain" over the arrangement. The club's board held a crisis meeting on Monday to determine its response. Steve Hocking was chief executive and Craig Drummond was club president when the deal was struck.
The AFL Commission has hired independent legal counsel to help decide whether Geelong should face sanctions.
Kolodjashnij was drafted by Geelong in 2013 and has played 209 games for the club. He last played at AFL level against GWS in early July. His twin brother Kade, who played for Gold Coast and Melbourne, was forced to retire in 2020 because of concussion issues — a family history that sits at the heart of why the waiver existed.
The footy world has been divided on the ethics of the arrangement. Former Essendon champion Matthew Lloyd and ex-Crow Rory Sloane reached different conclusions on whether Geelong was right to let a player shoulder that legal burden Nine News. Writing for Fox Sports, former Eagle Will Schofield argued the club should be "heavily punished" for hiding the agreement, while also suggesting the waiver concept itself might foreshadow how the AFL handles concussion liability in the future Fox Sports.
This story carries weight beyond one club. Concussion in the AFL is no longer just a medical issue — it is a legal and reputational one, and the league's response to Geelong will set a precedent for how far teams can go to protect themselves from the long shadow of head trauma. The AFL's own concussion protocols dictate that a player who sustains a head knock must pass a graded return-to-play process before being cleared; this waiver existed outside that framework entirely.
For Geelong, the immediate football cost is a missing defender with 209 games of experience. The longer-term cost, should the AFL Commission find the club breached its obligations, could be far steeper.
