Helmets should be mandatory for AFL players, according to former star Melbourne forward Russell Robertson.

Robertson said the radical move is necessary with the demands of new-age, high-speed football, highlighted by the recent spate of concussions.

The ex-Demon's teammate, Daniel Bell, revealed last week that a series of concussions had led to a decline in his brain function.

Robertson said that while the AFL had acted to try to cut down on head-high contact, the risks of serious injuries were now greater than ever.

"The AFL will argue that they are trying their best to protect the player's head with the 'head-high contact' rules," Robertson wrote on his Yahoo7 blog.

"But you can't stop head-high hits because these guys are going in harder and harder every year.

"The speed of the game dictates that they must. It's my contention that these 'impact injuries' will systematically get worse as long as we the viewers thirst for a game played at break neck speed."

Robertson even suggested that unless the AFL acted to bring in head protection a player might eventually die.

"Maybe it's time players were made to wear helmets," he said.

"This of course is a huge move and would be met with fierce rivalry but what is it going to take to safeguard our players, severe brain damage? A death?

"In my humble opinion something minor like body or head protection as opposed to something major like a death seems small penance to pay."

He also criticised the league's push to make the game as attractive as possible, saying it was causing more issues for the players, including insufficient rests due to the new substitution rule.

Robertson said that whatever changes were made to the game, players would still throw themselves into contests.

"Imagine if a player didn't go in hard and throw his head over the ball?

"Today's world full of harsh media comments and couch potatoes would have a field day every time tearing stripsoff a young man," he said.

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