Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge says he would have signed a concussion waiver to keep playing, wading into the storm around Geelong's secret agreement with an unnamed player that surfaced this week.

"If I had to sign a waiver to keep playing, I would have," Beveridge told reporters after the Bulldogs' shock loss to North Melbourne. "I think every player wants to keep playing until your boots fall off." ABC News

The revelation at the centre of this story: Geelong struck a private arrangement in 2024 in which a player signed an agreement exonerating the club and its medical staff from future legal action over brain trauma. The waiver made the player personally responsible for any concussion-related injuries suffered down the track. It was revealed on Thursday, 6 August 2026. Nine

The AFL investigated and cleared the Cats. In an official statement, the league called it a "complex and unique case" and said it was "satisfied that the letter was not used by Geelong to allow a medically unfit player to return to play." Geelong avoided sanction and said it would remove the waiver from the player's contract. AFL official Hocking said: "The Club will remove the waiver outlined in the letter, noting that the player continues to acknowledge potential risks." AFL.com.au

Not everyone accepted that outcome. Former players turned media commentators David King and Kane Cornes were among those who slammed the AFL for not punishing Geelong. Nine

Beveridge, for his part, spoke generally about concussion rather than addressing Geelong's case directly. He said players are looked after better than ever. "The way we train, as far as the duty of care goes, we really look after them," he said. ABC News

North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson, whose side had just beaten the Bulldogs, said he knew nothing about the Geelong waiver. It was an awkward intersection for Clarkson, who earlier in 2026 publicly criticised insurance company Zurich for rejecting concussion insurance claims. ABC News

The timing is hard to ignore. New AFL Commission chair Craig Drummond was president of the Geelong board when the waiver was struck. He was not mentioned in the AFL's statement. Drummond declined to front the media, issuing a three-line statement on Thursday night calling concussion a "challenging medical and legal issue for all contact sports globally." ABC News

The wider landscape gives every word here weight. A multi-million-dollar concussion class action against the AFL, led by former Geelong defender Max Rooke, is set to go to trial next year in the Supreme Court of Victoria. ABC News

The list of players forced into retirement by repeated concussions keeps growing: former Melbourne star Angus Brayshaw, West Coast defender Jeremy McGovern, premiership Magpie Nathan Murphy, and former number one draft pick Paddy McCartin. Deceased former players Danny Frawley, Shane Tuck and Graham "Polly" Farmer were all posthumously diagnosed with CTE — a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head impacts. ABC News

For fans, the tension is real. Players want to play. Clubs want them on the park. The long-term cost is measured in lives cut short and brains damaged beyond repair. A waiver shifts the legal risk onto the player. It does not make the risk itself any smaller.