Dead AFL star's mother accuses league of 'cover up' on brain injury

Grieving mother of AFL star Adam Hunter, who died with CTE, slams the league Sat 8 Aug 2026 at 4:41am In short: West Coast Eagles star Adam Hunter's mother Joanne Brown says AFL executive Laura Kane called her after a Four Corners report on CTE, but dubbed that phone call "too little, too late". The Four Corners investigation exposed the full scale of the AFL's CTE crisis and triggered a WorkSafe Victoria investigation, which is ongoing. Mrs Brown says a recent Herald Sun report that a Geelong player signed a club-approved waiver to play on despite a history of concussion is "disgusting". The late West Coast Eagles star Adam Hunter's mother Joanne Brown has revealed AFL executive Laura Kane reached out to her, but the grieving mother described the phone call as "too little, too late". Mrs Brown also accused the league of a brain injury "cover up", dubbing it "disgusting". The call to Mrs Brown came four weeks after Four Corners reported Adam Hunter was one of 33 Australian Rules players who have been diagnosed with the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), exposing the scale of the AFL's brain trauma crisis. The Four Corners investigation has since triggered a WorkSafe Victoria investigation into the AFL over player safety and concussion management during contact training. Mrs Brown told Four Corners she had not heard from the AFL since her son's death in February 2025 and subsequent CTE diagnosis. Hunter was a West Coast Eagles premiership player and played 151 games. But last week Mrs Brown said Ms Kane called and said the AFL had initially failed to reach out because the clubs "handled" grieving families "very well". "I said to [Ms Kane], ''It's been 17 months since Adam passed', and said this should have been done in the first month," Mrs Brown said. "I said, 'Why didn't someone call then?'" "Laura said, 'Oh, we thought the clubs handled this thing very well.' "I said, 'But they play for you. You're the AFL. They play for you.' "[Laura replied], 'Oh yes, I’ll take that on board and forward it on.' "But it's too late. Too little too late." Mrs Brown said Ms Kane told her the AFL was continuing to improve player health and safety and said it intended to reduce contact in training from this pre-season on in an attempt to decrease a footballer's exposure to repetitive hits. CTE is linked to repetitive hits to the head and body. A coroner looking into the death of former Richmond player Shane Tuck, who died by suicide at 38 and had CTE, recommended the AFL reduce contact in training back in 2023. Mrs Brown told the AFL that the league had failed to act fast enough on the coroner's key recommendation. "She was going on about what they're trying to do not to combat head injuries and I said, 'But wasn't that in 2023 that you were supposed to stop physical contact at training?' "And she goes, 'Yes, but we're working on it.' "I said, 'That's three years ago. How many players have been affected in those three years? "And she just waffled on like she did in the interview … that Four Corners did and I just went, 'They're just trying to cover up or make up' … and it's just disgusting." The Herald Sun on Thursday revealed a Geelong player, with a history of concussion, had been presented with and signed a waiver. The document the player signed waived his legal responsibility for future on-field head trauma. Geelong dumped the waiver after the Herald Sun report. The AFL said it had not approved the arrangement. However, the agreement was signed off by Geelong's board, which was chaired by the current AFL Commission chair, Craig Drummond. Mrs Brown said she found the story upsetting and believed her son would have done the same, signed a waiver, despite his history of head injuries. "I felt disgusted, absolutely disgusted that that [waiver] was allowed to go ahead," she said. "How can that go ahead? "And gutted in my heart. I know Adam would have done the same thing [signed it]. Because you know how much they want to play, right?" In a statement on Thursday night, the AFL and the AFL Players Association said it had not approved the agreement. It also said Geelong was removing it and all other clubs would be advised not to strike similar deals with "at-risk" players to exonerate themselves from future legal action. Mrs Brown's statement comes just a month after Adam Hunter's "grieving best mate" Dave Andrews penned an open letter to the AFL Commission saying it had "failed" in its duty of care to players. "You have failed him," Mr Andrews wrote in the five-page letter that touches on Hunter's sacrifice for the game and pleads for the AFL leadership to better inform its players of the CTE risk. Mr Andrews is yet to receive a response from the AFL Commission. The AFL has been contacted for comment.