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‘Why can’t that happen?’ Great’s concussion saga question that can’t be answered Respected commentator Gerard Whateley says key AFL stakeholders need to “come together” and create a “path” for Jake Kolodjashnij to be able to return to play, if fit and willing. It comes as the Cats premiership defender’s playing future has again been plunged into uncertainty. Watch every match of every round of the AFL Premiership Season LIVE and ad-break free during play on FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1. Geelong confirmed on Tuesday night that Kolodjashnij had been ruled unavailable to play at AFL and VFL levels this weekend as the club prioritises his “care and wellbeing”. With the Cats’ secret waiver scrapped, Whateley says it leaves the 31-year-old in a familiar position. “You can follow a thread of logic here. He is essentially back in the same position he was in the preseason of 2024, when all he could do was run laps,” he said on AFL 360 on Wednesday night. “He couldn’t participate in contact training, so at that stage, he had been to the AFL’s concussion tribunal, and he’d been delivered the ‘amber’ finding — not the ‘you’re right to play’, and not the ‘you’re medically retired’. “So he returns to the club, and they end up settling on the voluntary assumption of risk … that we know was not sent to the AFL and not approved nor negotiated with the Players’ Association. “But it provided some layer of comfort and insurance for that group that Kolodjashnij could return to play, where he has for three years continued his AFL career successfully. “Once that got removed on Thursday, and Chris Scott confirmed that he was told on Friday at the captain’s run (that) Kolodjashnij is now unavailable for selection. “Because whatever comfort and assurances there were in that document, regardless of their standing, are no longer there.” Putting aside the ‘right’ and ‘wrong’, Whateley said the “spinoff conversation” revolves around whether there’s a channel for Kolodjashnij to now keep playing at the professional level. “And this is where the Players’ Association, who were excluded (initially), are now central — you have a player who can no longer play,” he said. “Is there a path for Jake Kolodjashnij, who’s been told he’s not medically retired, it’s his risk, should he go on to play. Is there a path within footy for him to continue his AFL career, or not?” Former Demons captain Garry Lyon questioned what was stopping Kolodjashnij from again fronting an expert concussion panel to cement his playing status. “So, they won’t sign off on him playing, he’s not ruled out by the expert concussion panel … he’s played for three years, Gerard. Why doesn’t he go back to the concussion panel and resubmit himself and get a green light?” Lyon asked. “Get the green light on the basis that, ‘Hey, I’ve got some pretty firm evidence that suggests I’m able to cope with the demands of AFL footy; I’ve played for three damn years’. “So I’ll get the green light, go back to Geelong, go back to the insurance bloke and go here, here’s the green light, there’s the three years of evidence, let me play’. “Why can’t that happen?” Whateley replied: “I don’t know the answer to that. “But that’s (why) the industry is going to have to come together, and the Players’ Association, having been excluded (previously), is going to have to lead this. “You can’t have a player who can’t play on whose determination?” Lyon added that it was “nonsense”, citing again that Kolodjashnij had played three clean years after his first visit to the concussion panel. “This is a simplistic view, there’s much more nuance to it, I get it,” he said. “But the reality is, he has played for three years after they did the deal … surely if he’s keen, goes back and resubmits himself to the expert panel, and they either green-light him or red-light him. “(If) they green-light him, he goes back and says ‘there’s my green light, there’s my three years, let’s go’. “That has to be the process, surely.”