Fremantle captain Nat Fyfe has taken a strong stance on the AFL’s concussion debate by ruling himself out of Saturday night’s western derby against West Coast at Optus Stadium.

Fyfe was concussed in a sickening head-clash last Sunday with St Kilda’s Josh Battle before being assisted from the ground.

The 27-year-old said he had no memory of the incident and had yet to undertake the AFL’s prescribed concussion tests as he was still suffering symptoms from the knock.

His decision not to play comes on the back of Western Bulldogs premiership player Liam Picken’s retirement because of concussion issues and calls for players who are knocked out to be ruled out for a mandatory 19 days.

“I think I have an important role to play in setting an example and I really appreciate the level of interest and care and support that’s been shown by the Fremantle community and broader AFL community,” Fyfe said tonight in an exclusive interview with 7NEWS.

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“It’s a serious issue and we know a lot about concussion now. What my life is going to be like in 10 and 20 and 30 years’ time is really an unknown, all we can do is treat the case as best we can right now.

“We’ve come along way, even in my time professionally, as to how we deal with concussion. I’ve had a lot of injuries over my career and concussion still sits at the top of the list, so I’ll be taking this extremely seriously.

Play Video Nat Fyfe was out on his feet after copping a heavy head knock in a collision with St Kilda's Josh Battle. The West Australian Video Nat Fyfe was out on his feet after copping a heavy head knock in a collision with St Kilda's Josh Battle.

“The hard thing is that I might feel fine, but I’m not sure exactly what symptoms and damage has been done internally. So the decision is this week, given the short turn-around and given how big the impact was, that I’ll sit out and reload to play next week.”

Fyfe said he had taken the first significant steps on his road to recovery yesterday by spending 10 minutes on an exercise bike to “get the blood pressure up and moving”.

He said he felt better than he did the only other time he had been concussed in his 156-game career, back in 2010 after a collision with then-teammate Dylan Roberton.

“Generally, I’m feeling pretty good considering how big the hit was,” he said.

Camera Icon Nat Fyfe is helped off the ground after the clash. Credit: AAP Image/Tony McDonough

“The first day I woke up, Monday, I had a pretty severe headache, which you’d expect with a bit of soreness around my jaw where I made the initial contact. But if I compare this collision with the one I had nine years ago, I don’t think it’s that significant.”

Fyfe said he was always susceptible to that type of injury because of his robust playing style.

“It’s just the way I play footy,” he said.

“Looking back at the tape, I’ve just done what I usually do and put my head over the footy and chased after it and woke up in the hands of the doctors.

“I can remember the entire game and the lead-up to the game, but from that moment from when I chased after the footy to waking up under the ground with the doctors in the medical room, is sort of blank.

Play Video Wayne Carey, Brian Taylor and the Talking Footy crew discuss the Nat Fyfe concussion incident. The West Australian Video Wayne Carey, Brian Taylor and the Talking Footy crew discuss the Nat Fyfe concussion incident.

“I’ve got no recollection at all of anything happening and I was not in control of my own thoughts or actions or movements at all.”

Fyfe was disappointed to miss what would have been his 16th western derby.

“I do love the derbies,” he said.

“This is probably one I would particularly like to play in given I didn’t play in the last derby and West Coast are the team to beat at the moment.

“The big games are the games I like to play in, but there are more important things at this point in time for me.”