AFL player's beautiful baby tribute after tragedy
Adelaide Crows star Rory Sloane and his wife Belinda have announced the birth of their third child, Bodhi Leo Sloane, in an Instagram post on Wednesday afternoon.
The pair gave their third son the middle name Leo, same as their second child Sonny, in honour of their first son Leo Rory Sloane, who was delivered stillborn in 2018.
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The good news prompted an outpouring of support for the Sloane family, with both Rory and Belinda announcing Bodhi’s arrival online.
“Welcome little man - Bodhi Leo Sloane,” Rory wrote.
“We are all going to have some fun together!”
Wife Belinda was similarly excited about the family’s future with Bodhi along for the ride.
“Welcome to the world Bodhi Leo Sloane. The perfect third addition to our little boys club,” she wrote.
The couple have been candid about their experience with Leo’s stillbirth, with Rory discussing the tragedy on Triple M soon after the birth of Sonny on 2019.
“We’ve loved Sonny as a name for a long time, we actually had that penned in for Leo if things were different,” Sloane said.
“It was really fitting for him coming out a year later...his middle name couldn’t be anything other than Leo.
“Sonny will definitely know about his big brother.”
AFL strengthens concussion rules
Concussed AFL and AFLW players will be barred from returning to play for at least 12 days under new protocols.
Concussed players had previously been banned from returning to action for six days but the AFL has strengthened the rules after a review.
"The updated concussion guidelines represent a significant step ... that reflect medical research and other learnings over time," the AFL's general counsel Andrew Dillon said in a statement on Thursday.
"The reality is we play a contact sport and there is always going to be risk.
"However over recent years we have continued to take action to strengthen match-day protocols and amend the laws of the game to discourage high contact.
"The updated guidelines are the most stringent concussion protocols in Australian sport and we are committed to continuing to take action to protect the safety of players at all levels."
Under the protocols for the looming AFL and AFLW seasons, the earliest a player can return to play is on the 12th day after suffering concussion.
In some instances, a longer period of recovery and rehabilitation would be needed.
In cases where a player was suspected of being concussed but cleared of that diagnosis by a club doctor, that clearance must be approved by the league's independent chief medical officer.
With AAP
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