Albany football star Abby Duncan ‘heartbroken’ after knockout tackle ends her career

Talented footballer Abby Duncan will no longer be able to play the game she loves after sustaining a traumatic brain injury playing for Royals in the local women’s competition on Friday night. Duncan was knocked out in a tackle during her side’s clash with Railways at Centennial Stadium in round two of the Great Southern Women’s Football League. She was taken to Albany Health Campus but went home later that night. However, that is when things got scary for the 21-year-old. Duncan woke up with a headache three times during a restless night’s sleep, shouting to her partner, asking where she was. She returned to hospital early on Saturday morning and had scans, which revealed the brain injury. She received firm medical advice not to play football again. “I can’t remember what happened,” she said. “I got badly tackled and lost consciousness apparently. “I remember getting up and continuing playing but I was seeing double and my head was throbbing so I came off the ground. “I went to the hospital and after waiting four hours silly me got annoyed and ended up going home. “That night I was in bed and woke up shouting to my partner, I didn’t know where I was. “The first night was pretty scary.” Pre-existing neck and back problems from two car crashes in which Duncan was a passenger could have contributed to her diagnosis. Concussion is a hot topic in Australian Rules football, with a growing number of high-profile cases of long-term neurological problems, including Graham “Polly” Farmer, Danny Frawley and Shane Tuck. Last month, the AFL announced it had strengthened its concussion rules for the 2021 AFL and AFLW seasons, with players now required to be sidelined for at least 12 days after suffering concussion. That is double the six-day playing ban enforced last year. The AFL also said it would appoint a concussion lead at its headquarters to focus on the impacts of concussion at elite and community levels. Duncan said there was still not enough education around head injuries and concussion in football. “There is lots of stuff around ACL injuries and hamstrings but there hasn’t been enough around this kind of thing,” she said. “When it’s your head it’s a bit more serious.” A pioneer of the women’s game in the Great Southern, Duncan has played football for a decade. She has played for Claremont and represented WA at under-16 level, twice at the under-18 national championships, which included a match at the MCG. The skilful midfielder was part of Royals’ premiership team in 2019 and played for Borden against the men in the Ongerup Football Association at a young age. The stepsister of former Hawthorn defender Angus Litherland, Duncan said the reality of not being able to play football was yet to sink in. “I just feel a bit broken, to be honest,” she said. “As an athlete you want to make the decision when you stop playing so this has been a hard pill to swallow. “Part of me wants to just pull the boots on and run back out there. “I don’t think it will really hit me until the girls run out on Friday night. “I’ll still go down to training and games and be involved, and hopefully I’ll join back with the gym.”