Liam Picken Biography

Liam Picken announces his retirement due to ongoing issues with concussion.

"For the duration of his career, Liam has embodied the core values we hold dear as a football club, and we will miss his presence greatly," Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge said.

"We have always had a family-first mentality at the Bulldogs, and that should always be the overriding consideration when it comes to a player's health and any impact that has on playing football.

"Liam can be immensely proud of his achievements. He is loved and admired within the club, and universally respected by the whole football public, which is a true indication of the impression he has made on the game."

Liam Picken is still suffering low-level headaches as he recovers from a serious concussion that ruled him out of the whole of the 2018 season.

"(Liam) does still has some low-level headaches, and we're working closely with his specialists around his return to full training," Bulldogs medical services manager Chris Bell said.

"At the moment he's non-contact, and he'll remain non-contact until we get the green light."

Liam Picken will miss the remainder of the 2018 season as he continues his recovery from a concussion sustained in February.

Picken has shown continual improvement with his symptoms, with both the club medical staff and specialists happy with his progress towards full recovery.

He resumed full training two months ago and has shown no ill effects from his workload, but he will still need to successfully complete extensive clinical measures before he can return to the field.

Liam Picken opens up about the emotional toll from suffering a concussion in March.

"Some of the symptoms that have impacted me have been light and noise sensitivity, noise ringing in my ears, vision, headaches, migraines, mental wellness, memory function and impaired balance," Picken said.

"One of the hardest aspects of post-concussion syndrome is not knowing when you'll get better. Although it's been made clear to me that I'm on the road to full health, the timeline is unclear.

"I just want to encourage anyone that may have been hit, suffered concussion and doesn’t feel 100 per cent to speak up and seek help. And hopefully my transparency has helped others that may be feeling alone in their journey."

Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has conceded premiership hero Liam Picken may not play again in 2018 as he battles concussion.

"He's still getting dizzy spells, he's got headaches, he can't train with the footys, he can't even cope with the music within the four walls of the football club. That's how extreme it is at the moment," Beveridge said.

"In a sense, that's easy because it's pretty clear but whether or not he's going to be able to play maybe next year, well that's going to be a big challenge for everyone."

The Western Bulldogs will take a conservative approach with Liam Picken, sidelining the 31-year old indefinitely as he recovers from concussion.

Liam Picken is no certainty for the Western Bulldogs' 2018 opening round clash with Greater Western Sydney as he recovers from concussion.

The 31-year-old received the heavy knock in a collision with teammate Josh Dunkley during the JLT Community Series match against Hawthorn in Ballarat on March 3, and lay prone until stretchered from the field by trainers.

It's the second concussion the veteran has received in the past 12 months after a nasty head knock against Fremantle in round three last year.

Liam Picken has signed on with the Bulldogs for another two years and will remain at the club until the end of 2019.

"I was just concentrating on footy, so when the club came to me, I was more than happy (to sign). Hopefully we've got some exciting times coming up, so it was an easy decision," Picken said.

The Western Bulldogs are confident key playmaker Liam Picken will recover from concussion in time for the Good Friday clash against North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium.

Picken lay motionless after colliding with Fremantle's Tommy Sheridan during the second quarter of the Dogs' shock loss to Dockers.

The 30-year-old was assisted from the field by trainers, and was then ruled out for the remainder of the game after failing a concussion test.

"I'm happy to say (Liam's) symptoms were fast to resolve, but we'll have to continue to monitor Liam this week to determine his availability," Bulldogs medical services manager Chris Bell said.

Liam Picken is taken from the ground in the Bulldogs' clash against Fremantle at Domain Stadium following a heavy head knock.

Picken collided with Docker Tommy Sheridan and his head was sandwiched between Sheridan’s hip and the ground.

He lay motionless for 30 seconds before getting up and making his way off the field with the assistance of trainers.

Liam Picken is in doubt for the club's JLT Community Series opener against Melbourne on Saturday after sustaining a facial injury at training last week.

The club expects the rugged 29-year-old to resume training this week following surgery to repair the damage.

Liam Picken becomes part of the 2016 premiership-winning Bulldogs team and paid tribute to his family, especially his father Billy Picken.

"My family has supported me so much. It wasn't easy to make it in the AFL and they drive eight hours every week to watch me play, so its great to share that with me," Picken said.

Billy Picken hasn't shared too much from the sad old 'Colliwobbles' days with his son. "He's actually a very positive person. Even if I have a bad game or have a bad loss he's telling me to get back up."

Western Bulldogs coach Brendan McCartney has backed tagger Liam Picken after North Melbourne veteran Brent Harvey was suspended for three matches when he retaliated against Picken's close-checking tactics.

"He did his job for his team, played to his strengths and unfortunately an incident arose," McCartney said.

"He dealt with [the Harvey incident] like a man. He's a fantastic Western Bulldogs person. But I really want to commend him for his manliness.

"If Liam had actually got up and done what a lot of us with a short temper would do, it would have been a bigger issue. I thought he conducted himself pretty well."

Brent Harvey is referred straight to the Tribunal after a non-broadcast camera captured the veteran slamming Western Bulldogs tagger Liam Picken into the turf.

Harvey was then seen striking Picken with a forearm to the throat.

Brent Harvey is suspended for three games following a double misconduct charge against him for flipping Liam Picken to the ground before striking the Western Bulldogs tagger with a forearm to the throat.

Harvey's advocate Justin Hannebery broke the incident down to two phases, pleading guilty to the initial hip-toss but arguing the 36-year-old attempted to then stand up when the Western Bulldogs tagger held him down.

"I don't think I had any other option," Harvey testified.

"He made contact with me and grabbed me with both hands.

"I tried to get up and get some leverage to push up ... he was pulling me down with force," he added, likening it to a "tug of war".

"Not at one stage did I want to hurt him .. or cause him pain."

Gary Ablett remains in Brownlow Medal contention after his elbow on Western Bulldogs tagger Liam Picken was deemed to be within the rules.

The Match Review Panel sourced new vision and then conducted an investigation before deciding that "the contact made to the body was below that required to constitute a reportable offence".

Brett Deledio looked ready to explode as Liam Picken shoved him on the edge of the centre square throughout Friday night.

For much of the game, Picken delivered short, sharp forearm jolts - not enough to hurt or injure, but definitely enough to infuriate - and knocked one of the game's top playmakers off balance.

"I don't really notice it during the game. I just try to concentrate on the match. I don't worry about the niggle of games too much," Picken said.

"It happens in games, and opponents give it back to you. And that's fair enough.

"All the boys help me out during the game, which is great for me. I just want to keep playing my role so I can stay in the team, and hopefully we can get better.

"The ball bounced my way. It was just good to shut down whoever I had to."

Bulldog Liam Picken's match-day report for striking Brett Deledio has been dismissed.

Liam Picken was given the job of minding Brent Harvey in his first AFL game and carried off the job with style.