There is an emerging database of cold hard facts about concussion in sport that means it can no longer be assigned to the too-hard basket or sadly, as it has been for way too long, regarded as a beat-up.

The post-mortem examinations of AFL greats Polly Farmer and Danny Frawley provided the high profile evidence that the problem is real - and prevalent. It made a good many folk who had previously looked the other way take notice.

More recently Kade Kolodjashnij made it as much about the here and now.

The former Launceston man was forced into retirement from his AFL career at just 25. His first three seasons saw him appear in 59 matches but in the next four there were just a touch over 20 games as his capacity to take the field was severely affected by concussion incidents and consequent symptoms.

It's unusual for current players to speak up.

Kolodjashnij and cricketer Will Pucovski are the brave faces of a new world that was needed to make society take a serious look at a problem that not only affects elite sport, but is almost certain to be even more debilitating further down the playing pyramid.

Return-to-play protocols must be the first, but not the only, point of attention.

It's now time for government and the insurance sector to join with sporting bodies and players' associations in confronting an issue of devastating effect - for some like Kolodjashnij with immediate consequences but for myriad others left unaddressed well into the future.

Worksafe Victoria has already entered the fray, commissioning reports on whether the AFL's return-to-play protocols are adequate.

It's a start but should not end there with growing evidence that too much is at stake.

Reticence to act might well be based on fear about providing compensation to those who might already have been affected, but concussion in sport is not the only example of where revelations have demanded a call to action. There is no better example than the scourge of asbestosis.

There should be a way to provide care and comfort to those already afflicted but an equally strong if not greater imperative must be to implement strategies and protocols to minimise future instances.

Blaming macho attitudes is insufficient to explain a reluctance to accept there's an issue or a need to act to minimise it.

Not that concussion is a malaise exclusive to male sport. It might not be as prevalent in the case of females but can be just as devastating. There are suggestions that the effects can be even more immediate for women and girls.

And it's not just about collisions with other participants in sport but impacts with playing areas, equipment and the like.

There must also be better education, and as part of that a change in approach especially from those in a position to influence the views of others.

In a recent BBL game, Sydney Thunder all-rounder Daniels Sams was struck on the helmet while batting. The now-customary Cricket Australia protocols were followed with medical staff coming on to the field to assess his capacity to continue.

While this was happening members of the commentary team found it necessary or appropriate to observe that it was a good thing that he looked "okay".

Well as it happened, while he continued to bat briefly, he was not. He was unable to bowl in the second innings of the game and he has not played since.

He may have looked "okay" to a medically unqualified commentator sitting in a remote booth but such observations are neither necessary nor wise.

Whoever made the call for Sams to play no further part in that game and to delay his return to active participation almost certainly got it right.

It's time for everyone to get on board and treat concussion in sport as an extremely serious issue.

If that means changing the rules, then let's do it.

If it means being way more cautious about when someone exposes themselves once again to another head knock, then gets those protocols in place and apply them rigorously.

If it means sitting influencers down and making sure they get what this is all about, then let's do that as well.