A former Richmond Football Club doctor claims he quit the Tigers after medical staff were excluded from a pre-season training camp where former player Ty Zantuck alleges he was ordered to carry a 30-kilogram backpack despite having stress fractures in his lower back.
Former Richmond doctor Chris Bradshaw’s declaration was quoted as part of a landmark case in the Victorian Supreme Court brought against the Tigers and club doctors Greg Hickey and Bradshaw.
Zantuck alleges the club breached its duty of care in the treatment and management of his back injury when he played in 68 matches for the Tigers between 2000 and 2004.
Former Richmond player Ty Zantuck is continuing his case in the Victorian Supreme Court against the Richmond Football Club and two club doctors.Credit:Ray Kennedy
Zantuck has also taken action against the club alone in relation to brain trauma while playing.
In an email by Bradshaw to Zantuck’s solicitors, and quoted by Associate Justice Mary-Jane Ierodiaconou in her 49-page summation of why Zantuck had successfully been granted extra time to pursue his case, Bradshaw said the handling of the 2004 club camp to the Grampians had prompted him to leave.
It was on this camp that Zantuck alleges, having earlier been diagnosed by Bradshaw with two stress fractures in his lower back, and having failed in his bid to sit out the training camp, he was initially ordered to carry a 30-kilogram backpack on daily hikes. This weight was later reduced to 15-20 kilograms after he complained again of back pain.
In his writ, Zantuck, 40, claims doctors gave him more than 20 epidural injections to ease his back pain and to keep training and playing, but Bradshaw and fellow club doctor Greg Hickey have denied they provided epidural injections.
In a May 17, 2021 email, Bradshaw wrote: “As a doctor all I ever wanted to do was to assist the athlete to achieve what they said they wanted. I would do so safely. I would never do a procedure without the athlete’s consent (it’s very hard to inject someone that’s struggling).
“I don’t deny that the camp at the Grampians made him sore … but the medical staff were excluded from that camp and had no input. It was very frustrating and ultimately caused me to leave the club because I felt the conditioning staff were putting players at risk without our input. We did everything we could to help the players and nothing to hurt them in the short or long term.”
In late January 2004, it was reported in The Age that Bradshaw had left to take up a position with English Premier League club Fulham.
“It’s quite a good time for both [clubs],” Bradshaw, who had been with the Tigers for 12 years, said at the time. “Fulham has been without a club doctor since the start of the year, and it wouldn’t have been fair to Richmond to get too far into the regular season before departing.”
Zantuck alleges he was given injections in his back to “play numb”, a claim Hickey and Bradshaw deny. Zantuck and Hickey are at odds over a text Zantuck allegedly sent to Hickey about 16 years ago seeking access to his medical records.
“He has effectively had his life crippled by his back injury,” Associate Justice Ierodiaconou wrote.
Associate Justice Ierodiaconou added: “RFC, Dr Bradshaw, and Dr Hickey each filed a defence to Mr Zantuck’s first statement of claim. By these defences, it is evident that the defendants contest Mr Zantuck’s back injury and treatment claims.”
Former Richmond player Ty Zantuck tackles Hawthorn’s Mark Williams in 2004.Credit:Sebastian Costanzo
Hickey found Zantuck’s medical records of 2004, but “it appears from a review of those medical records that no written evidence was kept in regards to the injections administered or prescribed by RFC’s doctors. If medical records are missing, then it is not the fault of Mr Zantuck.”
Having filed his initial writ and statement about his back injury in April 2021, Zantuck amended his claim in March 2022, to include “a brain injury arising from concussions”. The brain injury claim is only against the Tigers, although the club says it could yet extend to Bradshaw.
Zantuck’s lawyers, from Griffin Lawyers, have used video evidence of several clashes from 29 games, leading to claims of multiple concussions and brain trauma involving a degenerative disease. Zantuck has previously spoken of having had suicidal thoughts.
Associate Justice Ierodiaconou wrote that “the footage of RFC’s handling of other concussion incidents involving other players is likely to be relevant and highly probative of the absence of a good protocol for managing concussion”.
“The video evidence will show that Mr Zantuck’s experience was similar to other players. It will show how RFC dealt with events that are assessed by medical experts as concussions. There is no evidence from any of the defendants that positively asserts or even suggests that RFC had a concussion management protocol in place at the time. There are just a couple of weekly notes,” Associate Justice Ierodiaconou said in her summation.
“The allegation against RFC in respect of the concussion claim is that it did not have adequate systems or policies for dealing with head injuries. RFC has not provided any evidence as to whether or not it has relevant documentary evidence.”
The AFL and Tigers did not wish to comment. The AFL’s concussion and health-and-safety protocols are now among the world’s best.
Reports by neurologist Dr Rowena Mobbs and neuropsychologist associate professor Jennifer Batchelor “identified the existence of criteria for suspected traumatic encephalopathy syndrome (‘TES’) and evidence of acquired cognitive impairment. TES is the ‘in life’ correlate of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (‘CTE’). The expert scientific evidence is that detectable symptoms generally only emerge later in a person’s life when concussion injuries are sustained in their 20s.”
The defendants argued the deaths of Danny Frawley, coach at the time, and Tigers physiotherapist Ian Macindoe, and former Essendon club doctor Bruce Reid should have led to Zantuck’s case for extra time being denied as their evidence was critical.
