DROPPED THE BALL
How the NRL failed Coast’s footy suicide victims
GOLD Coast rugby league clubs, rocked by six player suicides since 2012, are still waiting to be visited by NRL welfare officers.
Worried club officials have been forced to cobble together their own care programs for at-risk players.
Four local players took their own lives last year.
Tugun Seahawks president Rod Hill has lost three players.
“They (NRL) haven’t done anything,” Mr Hill said. “We’re not asking for money. “We just want a welfare officer here every week talking to our boys and checking in with them.”
The Burleigh Bears lost Hayden Butler, 20, last year.
Chief executive Damien Driscoll said: “We’re doing the best we can to support the boys but we need help.”
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WELFARE officers from the Queensland and national rugby leagues are still yet to visit Gold Coast clubs and players rocked by a spate of suicides.
After losing four players last year, desperate grassroots clubs are still waiting for the assistance promised by the sport’s governing bodies as more and more players battle depression, anxiety and the pressure to “make it in the game”.
Seahawks president Rod Hill said his club had been forced to “team with suicide charities all by ourselves to try and help players” after the deaths of Jake Briscoe, 14, and Guy Borgas and Chris Kitching, both 24.
“They (NRL) haven’t done anything,” Mr Hill said.
“It’s just a reaction after something tragic does happen which is simply far too late.
“We’re not asking for money. We just want a welfare officer here every week talking to our boys and checking in with them.
“For the life of me, I don’t know why that’s such a big ask.”
Since 2012 six Gold Coast players have committed suicide and four more succumbed across Queensland.
After losing three players last year, the Tugun Seahawks say they were even promised mental health training by the National Rugby League. It never came. The Gold Coast Bulletin can reveal only two welfare officers are employed by the NRL for the whole state and, despite the deaths, they are yet to visit the Coast where the problem is at crisis point.
The NRL launched a State of Mind campaign to target mental health issues at 70 grassroots level clubs across the country. The initiative has been backed by the State Government, which has tipped in $1 million over three years.
However, rugby league’s governing body would not guarantee the program would make it to the Gold Coast.
The Tugun Seahawks, Burleigh Bears and Runaway Bay, clubs, all rocked by suicides last year, had not heard of the campaign.
The number of young players taking their own life reflects the issues facing Australia’s wider society, where suicide is the leading cause of death for men aged 15-44.
While the rate of suicide in
rugby league may be no higher than the national average, its high profile is drawing attention to the welfare of young players, especially those who haven’t yet made it to elite level.
“We will continue to help
out when we are needed,” an NRL spokesman said in a brief statement.
“I caution any link between rugby league and suicide.
“Sadly, suicide is all too common within society as a whole. As a whole, we all need
to continue to work together to provide expert care and support for those who need it most and are most at risk.”
Queensland NRL clubs the Gold Coast Titans, Brisbane Broncos and North Queensland Cowboys each have two
full-time welfare and education specialists who can help local clubs after a suicide, but low-level football presidents say they need their own assistance because of the pressures on young footballers “to make it in the game”.