Sad retirement looming as Pie goes before concussion panel

Collingwood youngster Josh Carmichael faces a nervous wait on his playing future, as he prepares to meet with the independent concussion panel.

Carmichael copped a knock playing for the Pies' VFL side in May.

He has been struggling ever since with ongoing effects of that concussion, placed on the club's injury list with delayed symptoms of the knock.

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The 24-year-old has not payed football at any level since the start of May, with the meeting this week aiming to give some clarity around where he goes next.

Selected in the 2022 mid-season draft by the Magpies, Carmichael has played eight AFL games.

This wasn't his first concussion, with the midfielder forced out of a large chunk of pre season due to a head knock during training in December.

Carmichael's first concussion with the club occurred during the Magpies' first VFL final in August of 2023.

The independent panel will assess his head trauma and decide to either end his career now, or allow him back into the AFL system under a concussion program.

It comes just months after Carmichael's teammate, premiership defender Nathan Murphy, was forced to medically retire due to concussion.

The 24-year-old premiership winner was forced to hang up the boots after doctors confirmed he suffered excessive head trauma through his 57 AFL games.

Murphy's final game of his short career was the 2023 grand final, where he ws concussed in the first quarter of their thrilling victory after an accidental collision with Brisbane's Lincoln McCarthy.

Murphy was offered a role with Collingwood after his sad retirement.

"The club's been amazing with that, they've offered me a chance to come back in," Murphy told Nine's Sunday Footy Show back in April.

Carmichael could become not only the second Magpie to be forced to retire in 2024, but the fourth AFL player to hang up the boots.

Melbourne's Angus Brayshaw and young Bulldog Aiden O'Driscoll both also retired in 2024 due to concussion and its ongoing affects.