August 7, 2026 — 5:04pmThe AFL has written to Geelong demanding a “please explain” as to why it did not seek the league’s approval before allowing a player to sign a waiver that saw him assume responsibility for future on-field head injuries.It comes less than 24 hours after the league issued a statement saying it was “satisfied” the Cats had not used the letter to allow a medically unfit player to return to the field, and that the club had advised it would remove the waiver in question.Steve Hocking held a short media conference on Friday afternoon.Eddie JimThe response included no mention of a sanction, sparking widespread condemnation, and calls of double standards in light of recent penalties imposed on Carlton for their handling of Elijah Hollands’ on-field mental health episode.Speaking to media on Friday, Geelong chief executive Steve Hocking said he had only just learnt of the “please explain” prior to the press conference. He described the secret player agreement as a “process misstep” that the club was now looking at.Hocking said senior coach Chris Scott was always kept “at arm’s length” from discussions on player health and had no knowledge of the contract in question.“I’m CEO of the Geelong Football Club. We’ll work through it over the coming week as we have been over the last couple of days,” he said, adding he had not put any thought to his future at the club as he had been “busy working through this”.Hocking evaded a question around whether there had been any fallout within the club, and defended the “extensive process” the club and player went through two years ago, emphasising the legal and family representation he had before signing the deal, and reiterating that he was not coerced into doing so.“I’ve spoken to that player today, and he still feels that care from the club is as strong as ever,” he said.Hocking avoided giving straight answers to questions about what penalty the Cats expect to cop, how this issue might be perceived by others, including rival clubs, or the involvement of AFL chairman Craig Drummond, who was president of Geelong, and part of the deliberations and ultimate decision.“Whatever the AFL decides to do from here is up to them … what I can reinforce is what an excellent chairman Craig’s been down here,” he said.Drummond was also a director of the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health – a brain research centre – from 2009 to 2017.The institute led a much-criticised past-player project from 2014 to 2019 investigating the brain health of former footballers.From our partners