AFL Commission chair Craig Drummond has apologised for "the mistakes made in this very complex situation" over a secret concussion waiver Geelong struck with player Jake Kolodjashnij, conceding the agreement went "too far" The Guardian, 8 August 2026.

Drummond, who became AFL Commission chair in March 2026, was Geelong's president and on the club board when the deal was signed in 2024. The agreement required Kolodjashnij to take on legal responsibility for any potential future head trauma — effectively shifting liability for concussion-related consequences from the club to the player. In a statement released on Saturday, Drummond said he had not and would not be involved in any AFL deliberation or assessment of the matter under the league's rules and regulations AFL.com.au, 8 August 2026.

The waiver was scrapped on Thursday 6 August — the same day the AFL released a statement saying it had not approved the deal. Geelong had received a "please explain" letter from the AFL, with league boss Andrew Dillon confirming the league had asked why the agreement was never lodged with the AFL or the AFL Players' Association and was waiting to hear back from the club ABC News, 8 August 2026.

Kolodjashnij's agent was not aware of the contract. Neither the AFL nor the AFL Players' Association was informed at the time it was signed.

Drummond said the Geelong board had carefully considered its obligations to both the player and the club during discussions about Kolodjashnij's future, including with his family, doctors and insurers. He said the waiver did not remove Kolodjashnij's protections as a player under statutory health and safety laws, and acknowledged a process failure in not lodging the agreement properly.

The context is sobering. Kolodjashnij passed an independent medical test to return to play but was still considered at risk of future complications from head injuries. His twin brother, Kade, was forced to retire from AFL football in 2020 due to ongoing concussion problems. Concussion — a brain injury caused by a blow to the head — has become one of the most serious issues in contact sport, with long-term effects including memory loss, depression and cognitive decline.

The AFL has not penalised Geelong over the waiver. Cats chief executive Steve Hocking, who took responsibility for the Kolodjashnij deal on Friday 7 August, did not rule out a sanction.

Kolodjashnij himself went public on Friday evening to defend Geelong and the process that led to him continuing his AFL career, which has now reached 200 matches.

On Thursday night, before his fuller Saturday statement, Drummond issued a brief three-line comment calling concussion "a challenging medical and legal issue for all contact sports" AFL.com.au, 7 August 2026. His weekend apology went considerably further — an acknowledgment, from the league's most senior administrator, that the agreement signed under his watch at Geelong overstepped.

What makes this matter cut through is the chain of responsibility. The man now chairing the AFL Commission was the club president who presided over a deal that asked a player to carry the legal weight of his own future brain injuries. Drummond has stepped aside from the league's assessment of the matter. Whether the AFL still sanctions Geelong remains an open question — one Hocking did not close off when he fronted the media on Friday.