Media launch event at Fawkner Park, South Yarra, at 9.30AEDT Tuesday 3 February. See below for details.
A world-first concussion and head impact study led by Monash University will assess the efficacy of headgear during elite and community football and rugby games.
In partnership with non-profit Connectivity Traumatic Brain Injury Australia, the study will involve 600 players aged 16 years and older from Victoria, NSW and Queensland testing the innovative headgear developed by local startup GameGear.
Associate Professor Stuart McDonald, from Monash University’s School of Translational Medicine, is the lead researcher of the team competitively selected by an independent expert panel to conduct the study.
It will combine real-world exposure data, clinical assessment, biomechanics and biomarkers.
Associate Professor McDonald said it will set a new benchmark for understanding protective headgear in contact sport, and determining how GameGear headgear can be effective at reducing concussion.
“Independent lab testing has shown this headgear can significantly reduce the forces transmitted to the head during impacts, which gives us strong reason to think it might lower the risk of brain injury in collision sports such as Australian football and rugby league,” Associate Professor McDonald said.
“The crucial question now is whether those lab findings translate to real games.
“We’ve designed a large multi-state study to see if and how it reduces concussion risk for players.”
Connectivity Traumatic Brain Injury Australia Chief Executive, Professor Lindy Fitzgerald, said the study will help in understanding the effectiveness of headgear in protecting against concussion and concussion symptoms in sport.
“Concussion is a complex biological injury and is difficult to manage in contact sport.
“We need stronger, real-world data on head impacts, force exerted on the brain, and recovery, especially in community settings where most athletes play.
“This study is important because it combines clinical science, biomechanics and biology to establish a clearer picture of both the problem and the potential value of protective headgear.”
GameGear is the only product to pass the AFL’s Advanced Football Headgear Standards, the highest headgear performance benchmark in Australian sport.
AFL Chief Medical Officer Dr Michael Makdissi said concussion is a key issue in elite sport.
“There is no higher priority for the AFL than the health and safety of players at all levels, with concussion continuing to be an extremely complex and evolving subject,” he said.
“The AFL is committed to supporting important research projects that assess whether headgear that complies with the minimum requirements of the standards additionally reduces the severity of head trauma and the risk of concussion.
“The GameGear innovative headgear technology has been the first product to go through the headgear certification process and the AFL is strongly supportive of the proposed trial by Monash University to assess this headgear in the field.”
GameGear headgear was developed to help manage specific head-impact forces without restricting performance.
Graeme Attey, the industrial designer behind GameGear, said player welfare was central to the product’s ethos and the driving force behind funding an independent trial.
“We want to achieve for concussion in sport what seatbelts achieved for road safety,” he said.
“I’d heard for decades that concussion is a part of football and we’ve just got to live with it.
“It doesn’t have to be like that.
“We built GameGear helmets so that players can run onto a field feeling that they’re actually protecting themselves and doing all they can to protect their wellbeing.”
GameGear ambassador Christian Welch, a former NRL Melbourne Storm forward and Queensland State-of-Origin representative, experienced multiple concussions throughout his career, and until GameGear, he never thought wearing traditional headgear would make any difference to the risk of injury.
“I had about eight official concussions on my medical records over my career, but I’d say probably double that to be honest when I was coming through,” he said.
“I never wore headgear and it basically didn’t stop any concussions.
“It only stopped the cuts, the superficial things that might happen in a game of footy.
“The reality is, it’s going to be very difficult to eliminate concussions all together, but if we can make the sport safer for both elite players and juniors we should at every opportunity, and that’s what we should be trying to do with GameGear.”
MEDIA OPPORTUNITY: MONASH UNIVERSITY GAMEGEAR TRIAL LAUNCH
Location: Fawkner Park (Corner Pasley St and Park Lane)
Date: Tuesday 3 February 2026
Time: Press conference at 09:30AEDT, interview and photo opportunity from 10:00AEDT
Talent: Key spokespeople from Monash University, Connectivity Traumatic Brain Injury Australia and GameGear, including ambassadors Simon Black (Former Brisbane Lions AFL premiership winning player) and Christian Welch (former Melbourne Storm captain).
Contact: Leo Shanahan on +61 422 029 730 or [email protected]
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