Geelong defender Tom Stewart has revealed he blacked out for nearly an hour after suffering a concussion in last month’s preliminary final, an injury that ruled him out of the AFL Grand Final and left him grappling with heartbreak in its aftermath.
The 31-year-old was knocked out following a heavy tackle from Hawthorn’s Mabior Chol, who later received a three-game suspension for the incident.
Stewart’s concussion triggered the AFL’s 12-day stand-down rule, automatically excluding him from the premiership decider and making him the first men’s player to miss a Grand Final under the protocol.
‘I lost about an hour of my life’
Speaking on Triple M’s The Rush Hour with JB & Billy, Stewart admitted he had no memory of a large portion of the game or the aftermath. “When the incident happened, I fully blacked out, and I lost about an hour of my life where I can’t remember a thing,” he said. “I was conscious and awake, and I ran off on my own accord, but I don’t remember a thing.”
Watching from the sidelines was, he said, “really, really challenging”. “I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t heartbroken and had to take myself away,” he added. The club had urged him to take time off, but Stewart chose to attend training and the open session so teammates and fans could see he was okay, even though keeping up appearances was draining.
“I had to take some time after that session because I was just knackered trying to pretend like everything was OK,” he said. “By the end of it, I just wanted to sleep for as many days as I could.”
Stewart, who has suffered multiple concussions throughout his career, said the experience has reinforced the importance of recovery time and voiced support for a pre-Grand Final bye to give players a fair chance to return safely. “Of course I want it to happen,” he said. “Selfishly, of course, I want it to happen.”