The daughter of late WA footy great Austin Robertson Jr has revealed how her father’s life “got quite small” as he battled the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
Last year Robertson told the ABC he suspected he suffered from the condition, and how he planned to donate his brain to science after his death so the disease could be better understood.
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) can only be diagnosed after death, and Robertson’s family received confirmation on Friday from the Australian Sports Brain Bank that his fears had been realised and he did have the disease.
The symptoms of CTE, which is caused by repeated blows to the head, include behavioural and mood issues, and problems with thinking.
Robertson, as full forward for Subiaco, kicked more goals than any other West Australian, in an era when defenders were under strict instructions to make forwards “earn it”.
That meant that even when a defender lost a marking contest, he was to leave some physical imprint on the forward, often by way of a “mistimed” spoil to the back of the head.
But as was the way at the time, Robertson was proud that he never missed a game the week after a head knock, and never wanted to come off the field.
‘He struggled emotionally’
Speaking to ABC Radio Perth’s Nadia Mitsopolous, Nicola Petrossian — the eldest of Robertson’s three daughters — said seeing her father struggle in his later years took a toll.
“We knew that he had it,” she said.
“He presented really well, but he struggled and life got quite small in the end for him.
“He worked very hard to cover it up for sure.
“He struggled emotionally, he didn’t cope with stress too well.
“It messed around with his confidence a lot.
“Things that he would normally do, like go out for dinner and things, he just didn’t want to go.
“Taking a flight over east he found so overwhelming. It was too much for him.”
‘More questions than answers’
Dr Andrew Affleck, from the Australian Sports Brain Bank, said Robertson’s CTE was on the “more severe side”, but was of a type that had only been first noted in January this year.
“It was a particular type of CTE that has only been sort of described really recently, called ‘cortical sparing’ CTE,” he said.
Dr Affleck said ‘cortical sparing’ CTE saw the clumps of proteins that build up to cause the condition form in different areas of the brain, compared to a more typical case.
“It’s really incredible that we get people like Austin putting his hand up and saying ‘I want to donate my brain’, because we’re learning more and more about it,” he said.
“And that’s how we’re going to be able to diagnose it, see it in life and hopefully treat it one day.”
Ms Petrossian said she had been told her father’s case has “raised more questions than answers”, but she was grateful his cognitive ability had not been compromised.
“They said he was more affected not in the cognitive sense but more in the emotional and behavioural sense,” she said.
“They said he must have had tremendous genes, because his genetics must have protected his brain from the disease, to infiltrate his cognitive abilities.”
Robertson said last year that in the generation he played in, it was a point of pride to not miss games, no matter how severe the head knock.
“The longest time I was [knocked] out was in the 1973 grand final,” he told ABC Radio Perth.
“I got whacked from behind, which would have been covered from 17 different angles today.
“Down I went and the first thing I remember was looking up at the head trainer’s eyes, and he said ‘you’ll be right’, a few smelling salts, and off we went again.
“In today’s football I would have been taken off the ground.”
Reckoning with concussion
Ms Petrossian said she harboured no resentment towards the West Australian Football League for failing in its duty to protect players of her father’s era from head knocks.
“It was just the time. It was the same for everyone,” she said.
“I just think that in hindsight … it’s their responsibility to step up and protect the players now.
“I just remember how passionate dad was about … making sure people were aware of the damage, so they didn’t play on.”
The news comes as football bodies around Australia face a reckoning on concussion.
In February Melbourne AFL premiership player Angus Brayshaw, 28, announced he was retiring after suffering repeated concussions throughout his career, most recently in last year’s final against Collingwood.
Last month Collingwood player Nathan Murphy, who was knocked out in the 2023 grand final, retired due to the effects at the age of 24.
In recent years West Coast Eagles players Daniel Venables and Brad Sheppard have both called time on their careers prematurely after head knocks.
More than 60 players have joined a class action seeking damages from the AFL for the effects of repeated head knocks throughout their careers.
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