St Kilda midfielder Koby Stevens has announced his retirement due to ongoing concussion symptoms suffered since the Saints' round one clash against the Brisbane Lions.
Stevens suffered a head clash with Lions midfielder-forward Mitch Robinson in the opening round, which resulted in the 27-year-old suffering blurred vision. The following week, Stevens lined up against North Melbourne, despite experiencing delayed concussion and not informing the club doctors. It was only until round four that Stevens spoke to the club doctors and was diagnosed with delayed concussion. At that point, Stevens was unaware he had played his last game of football. After announcing his retirement to his teammates on Monday, Stevens spoke to reporters about why he had remained silent on his concussion symptoms. "Prior to this year, I've hidden things before and gone out and played with symptoms, and that's just the person I was," Stevens said. "I didn't like showing any signs of weakness and that's what I loved about the game, is that it's such a brutal game and something I'm going to miss. "Looking back at it now, and everything that it's robbed me of the last three or four months, you've got to take care of your health first and concussion is a pretty serious issue." The forward Eagle and Bulldog had suffered constant headaches and dizziness, and could not return to the football club to train due to an elevated heart rate. He even found it difficult to leave his house in the past three to four months. Saints coach Alan Richardson said that Stevens needs to think about his future after trying his hardest to return to football. "It's been a long time coming — the decision. He's done everything he could to try and get right, but the reality is he needs to have a break. He needs to think about the next phase of his life," Richardson said. "Some of the examples that he's set for our players have just been outstanding in the way that he plays, but also the way that he prepares." Stevens was drafted in 2009 by the West Coast Eagles at no.23, where he played 11 games. He then moved on to the Western Bulldogs in 2013, where he played 63 games and missed out on the Bulldogs' 2016 premiership due to injury. At the end of 2016, Stevens joined the Saints and played 17 games between 2017 and 2018.
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