life care after head clash during Melbourne game

Suburban football player Nathan Fitzgerald is receiving end-of-life care a day after suffering a head injury during an Aussie Rules game in Melbourne's north.

The 27-year-old clashed heads with a teammate from the Epping Football Netball Club during a tackle in a reserves match against Lalor in the Northern Football League.

Epping Football Netball Club president Luke De Vincentis said Nathan appeared to knock his head multiple times.

"[There were] two to three significant knocks in the one motion," he said.

"The extent of what happened is completely rare and was really foreign territory for everyone to navigate."

Both clubs' medical teams rushed to the player's aid, with the head medic doing CPR until paramedics arrived at Lalor Reserve about 1pm on Saturday.

Nathan was rushed to hospital in a critical condition.

His teammates arrived at the Epping Football Netball Club this afternoon, where they supported each other.

Ambulance Victoria chief executive officer Jordan Emery has praised those who performed first aid on the player.

"It is a frightening task; it is a scary situation to find someone you know or love experiencing a medical emergency," Mr Emery said.

He said contact sport always carried a risk of injury but that that should be viewed in context.

"When we reflect on the many numbers of individuals who play different contact sports across Australia, that risk profile is relatively low," he said.

"But, of course, there are circumstances where very significant injuries can occur."

Epping's social media pages have been inundated with messages of support, including from other clubs in suburban leagues.

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