Cricketer Will Pucovski sues Melbourne school over alleged concussion

Former Australian test cricketer Will Pucovski is suing Brighton Grammar School over an alleged concussion incident he says ultimately ended his cricket career.

Pucovski's lawyers have filed a statement of claim against the Melbourne private school in the Victorian Supreme Court.

The claim alleges that a head knock during an "aggressively physical" football training session 12 years ago caused a brain injury from which he has never recovered.

Pucovski announced his retirement from cricket in April 2025, at the age of 27, after he sustained his 13th-known concussion.

The particulars contained in the writ are untested allegations only, and Brighton Grammar has not yet put forward its defence to the claim.

Pucovski made his Test debut for Australia against India at the SCG in January 2021, scoring 62 in the first innings.

Two months earlier, the batting prodigy became the first player this century to score two consecutive double centuries in the Sheffield Shield.

He last played Sheffield Shield in March 2024, when he sustained the 13th known concussion of his career.

He finished with a first-class average of 45.19, including seven centuries and a highest score of 255 not out.

Head clash during training session following footy loss

Pucovski's lawyers allege Brighton Grammar School (BGS) "exhibited a high-handed, contumelious and callous disregard" for his safety.

According to the writ, Pucovski was part of BGS's second-18 football team that suffered a substantial loss to Scotch College in a round of the APS AFL school football competition in 2014.

It is alleged that after the loss, the team was told that the next training session would be "especially physical and demanding" and that they were instructed to be aggressive "due to the team's unacceptably weak performance" in the game.

"The plaintiff understood the intention … was that players would show aggression towards each other and that they deserved physical pain," the claim states.

"Requiring the plaintiff to participate in the training drill at the training session involved fault that concerned or related to an intentional act, namely the training drill, that was instructed to be undertaken, and was undertaken, with the intent that it would cause injury or harm to those participating."

The claim states Pucovski was sling-tackled and his head collided with the knee of another student, knocking him unconscious.

His lawyers allege he was helped off the field, where he was left alone while the drill continued, after which he was asked to resume training, including tackling.

Over the following days, Pucovski said he suffered head pain and other symptoms and was taken to a doctor who advised he had a concussion.

The following weekend, Pucovski acted as a team runner, conveying messages to the players throughout the game.

His parents took him to Cabrini Hospital the next day after his headaches intensified and he developed nausea.

Medical staff advised him not to go to school and to cease physical activity.

"In the period of about six weeks following the plaintiff's attendance at Cabrini, the plaintiff frequently stayed at home, mostly alone, and often in a darkened room; continued to experience headaches; and developed for the first time persistent, looping and intrusive thoughts which would subsequently be diagnosed as a form of mental health disorder (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)," the claim states.

The claim alleges the head collision caused a sustained traumatic brain injury from which Pucovski has never recovered, vision impairment and was predisposed to worsening symptoms if he receives any further concussions.

It alleges BGS grossly breached its duty of care by failing to properly treat and manage his injury, failed to comply with its own first aid policy and did not follow the AFL's concussion protocol.

Brighton Grammar said it was unable to comment because the matter was before the courts.