A high-stakes class action lawsuit brought by former Australian Football League (AFL) players over long-term brain damage linked to repeated on-field and training concussions is on track for a landmark 12-week trial, set to commence in the second half of 2025.
First launched in 2023 by Max Rooke, a former defender for the Geelong Cats who played 125 top-flight games for the club between 2002 and 2010, the legal action has already grown to include nearly 100 former players as participating claimants. Rooke serves as the lead plaintiff in the case, which was brought before Victorian Supreme Court Justice Andrew Keogh for a procedural hearing on Monday, where the trial timeline was formally set.
Per the court’s scheduling order, the 12-week trial will get underway on July 26, 2025. Alongside the trial date, the court also scheduled a directions hearing focused on pre-trial mediation for September 30 this year, with a specialized expert conclave — a closed-door meeting where independent medical and industry specialists will discuss technical issues central to the case — also planned to take place ahead of the trial.
In his claim, Rooke alleges he sustained permanent, life-altering brain damage from repeated concussion injuries sustained during his playing and training career. He further claims that both the league and his club failed to provide reasonable care after he suffered head impacts, and never adequately warned him of the long-term health risks associated with repeated concussions.
The class action is not limited to Rooke and the current group of claimants. It is brought on behalf of all AFL players, their families, and their estates who played in the league at any point between 1985 and March 2023, and who have since developed permanent brain injuries stemming from in-game or training head impacts. The core allegation of the lawsuit is that the AFL as the governing body, and individual participating clubs, systematically failed to properly manage and mitigate the risk of concussion injuries for players over the 38-year period covered by the claim.
The legal battle has already seen one major pre-trial ruling. In September 2023, Justice Keogh rejected an application by the AFL and Geelong Football Club to split the class action into hundreds of separate individual claims, a move that would have significantly delayed proceedings and increased legal costs for the plaintiffs. The league and the named clubs have maintained their defense against the claims throughout the procedural process.