Fire was nolonger burning

RETIRED Magpie Dayne Beams has suffered periods of guilt about his ill-fated return to Collingwood, but says his attempt store ignite his passion for the game alienated him further from it.

Beams, 30, is closing in on a financial settlement with Collingwood that wills ever his ties with AFL football despite having two more years to run on his contract. His move to the Pies proved disastrous with Beams being weighed down by his mental health issues and addictions to gambling and pain-killing injections. Beams has conceded he still feels for

Magpie supporters who feel aggrieved by the fact he was unable top layout his contract.

“It was quite stressful because I had signed a contract at Collingwood for four years and it was never my intention to retire this early ,” Beams said.

“You are battling with that sort of thing ... you are battling with the guilt of not being able to perform and not really wanting to, as opposed to what was best for my health.

“We went back and forward for a bit and my mental health wasn’t great because of that. I had to do what made me happy and that’ s what I have done .”

The 2010 premiership player had left Collingwood at the end of 2014 in order to be closer to his father, Philip, after he was diagnosed with cancer. But the death of his father in early 2018 left Beams struggling for motivation at the Lions and feeling disconnected from the game.

He thought that a return to Collingwood would restore his love of football, but returning to one of the AFL’s most high profile clubs counted against him.

“I started losing passion for footy pretty much when dad died,” he said.