The coronial hearing into the death of former AFL footballer Shane Tuck has taken a dramatic turn, with his widow Katherine withdrawing from the inquest.
Tuck, who played 173 games with Richmond from 2004-13, took his own life in 2020 and was posthumously diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), brain degeneration likely caused by repeated head traumas.
The late Shane Tuck, who died at the age of 38.Credit: Sebastian Costanzo
Lawyer Greg Griffin and Katherine Tuck want greater examination of the head knocks Shane endured at the case before state coroner Judge John Cain in the Coroners Court of Victoria. But Katherine has become increasingly frustrated, in particular by Cain’s decision last year to focus only on current and future guidelines around concussion, rather than the specifics of Tuck’s treatment.
The coroner said that although he understood Katherine’s concerns, he would not embark on an exercise in determining what Richmond should have or should not have done in treating her husband. “What you are seeking to do is invite me to apportion blame as to what has occurred and that is not my role, frankly,” Cain said at the time.
Griffin dispatched a letter to Cain, the AFL and the Richmond Football Club – and read by The Age – just before the close of business on Wednesday, outlining why Katherine had withdrawn from the inquest.
“As we have previously communicated, our client has grave concerns in relation to the process currently being undertaken by this court, and the conduct of the investigation into the circumstances surrounding her husband’s death, which has inevitably led her to the decision to withdraw from any further involvement in the coronial investigation,” Griffin said.
“In particular, she is frustrated by the coroner’s decision to severely limit the scope of the investigation, and the refusal to give any consideration to the policies, guidelines, rules and/or practises of the AFL in respect of concussion and head injuries as were in place at the time of Shane Tuck’s playing career, and whether those arrangements were reasonable and proportionate to address the risk of CTE.
“Her concerns in that regard were not aided by the submissions made by the AFL and the Richmond Football Club to that issue, which sought to encourage the court’s narrow approach. In the circumstances, Mrs Tuck considers her further involvement in the matter to be an arid exercise.”
When contacted by The Age, Griffin said there was no chance Katherine Tuck would change her mind. The Coroners Court of Victoria, and the AFL, were contacted for comment.
However, she will remain as one of the lead plaintiffs in a separate concussion class action against the AFL, of which Griffin is leading.
Griffin and Katherine had supported the coronial investigation when it was to be led by deputy coroner Simon McGregor, but McGregor had to recuse himself in 2021 due to being the brother of AFL Players Association staff member, Matt McGregor, who had referred Tuck to psychological services as part of the Players’ Association wellbeing team.
Griffin had applied in December 2021 to have Cain step aside on the basis that Cain was once a managing partner of a law firm that had represented AFL clubs Collingwood and Hawthorn. But the application failed.
The case is due to resume in court in June, and can still go ahead without Katherine Tuck, but her evidence is important.
“Mrs Tuck is now left in the position where hearing dates for the coronial investigation have been set in circumstances where what is to be considered is limited to an examination of how the AFL proposes to deal with the issue of return to play protocols and the medical treatment of concussed and injured players going forward,” Griffin said.
“Whilst it is accepted by Mrs Tuck that consideration of those matters forms an important part of the Court’s prevention role, this need not be at the expense or to the exclusion of any review of what
transpired during the course of the deceased’s playing career. Whilst it is ultimately a matter for the court to determine the scope of the coronial investigation, it is noted that, at every stage, any submissions made on her behalf on that topic have been opposed by the AFL and the Richmond Football Club and somewhat inexplicably by the AFLPA.
“Unsurprisingly, our client does not wish to incur any further costs to participate in what appears to be little more than a public relations exercise for the AFL in that regard.”
The Australian Sports Brain Bank diagnosed Shane Tuck with CTE, with the former Tiger now one of four ex-AFL players to be posthumously diagnosed with CTE.
Tuck also had a brief boxing career, but Griffin has taken aim at any party who suggests this was to blame for the CTE.
“For any of the other interested parties to continue to promulgate the theory that the deceased short career as a boxer, and not his 13-year career as an AFL footballer, was to blame for the onset of CTE does them no credit. Any credible expert in the field of brain injuries and CTE would dismiss any such alternate theory were it to be put as an explanation for the onset of CTE in Mr Tuck having
regard to the presence of Stage 4 CTE in the findings of the post-mortem,” Griffin said.
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