‘An accident waiting to happen’: experts call for Australian rules football safety overhaul after player death

Concrete-based cricket pitches, like that on which Nathan Fitzgerald received fatal blows to the head, are ‘totally unsafe’, concussion advocate says

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Australia must finally deal with a deadly risk that has plagued its native football code for more than 120 years, sports safety advocates say, after the death of a suburban Aussie rules footballer.

Nathan Fitzgerald, a 27-year-old school teacher, died in a Melbourne hospital on Monday after a horror accident on Saturday in which it is believed the Epping reserves grade footballer clashed heads with another player while tackling an opponent and received a second blow to the head as he fell, before striking his head a third time on a concrete-based cricket pitch in the middle of the ground.

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