Saints to look into Roberton incident

St Kilda will examine their medical processes after the effects of Dylan Roberton's heavy hit to the head were laid bare in a halftime TV interview.

St Kilda defender Dylan Roberton's dazed and confused halftime television interview on Saturday night is likely to lead to the AFL club reviewing its concussion process.

Roberton was initially cleared to play on - and to give the Seven Network a halftime interview - following a heavy head knock just before the main break of the Saints' five-point loss to Port Adelaide at Etihad Stadium.

But the defender was clearly suffering delayed effects from the hit as he struggled to make sense on national television while being interviewed.

His questioner, former Geelong premiership captain Cameron Ling, sensibly realised that Roberton was struggling from his head knock and ended the interview quickly.

St Kilda coach Scott Watters said club medical staff had initially felt Roberton was fine to keep playing despite being collected heavily by Port defender Tom Jonas.

"I think it was about six minutes before halftime when he actually copped the knock," Watters said.

"Our head trainer actually spoke to him at the time and he gave all indication that he was okay.

"Then obviously coming off and doing the interview, the knock had certainly rattled him.

"It's very hard sometimes, and it's why it's such a fine line.

"Our players are our No.1 asset and we want to look after them, but it's a brutal game.

"We'll have to reassess that process, but our head trainer thought he was clear to go based on the assessment he did at that point."

Roberton was substituted out of the game during the halftime break for in-depth concussion testing and did not return.


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Source: AAP


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