NRL must confront scourge

THE NRL is very good at promoting its various causes, ranging from proper recognition for indigenous players to the roles of women in rugby league.

Now it must turn its attention to the mental wellbeing of its up-and-coming players.

Six Gold Coast rugby league players have taken their own lives since 2012 – four last year alone.

The NRL is right when it says suicide is an issue for all of society, not just the code, and the QRL, too, should have a role in confronting this unfolding tragedy.

But surely as the most prominent rugby league organisation in Australia, with its vast resources, the NRL has the ability and an obligation to do something to support the men and women crying out for help at the grassroots of the game.

Like all team sports, footy offers a caring, nurturing environment for young men.

Coaches aren’t just coaches – they’re confidantes and advisers.

But they are not trained counsellors. Even so, they recognise that “heaps of boys” in Coast clubs are battling depression.

The NRL has two welfare officers in Queensland. Why have they not visited the Tugun Seahawks, Burleigh Bears and Runaway Bay given the tragedies visited upon these clubs?

Reading the words of the club bosses, it’s clear the spate of suicides is having an impact on their own mental states. They are at their wits’ ends, begging for help.

We need to confront the issue of suicide and do something about it, not sweep it under the carpet.

Rod Hill, Damien Driscoll and Grant McMahon are doing that – tackling it head-on – just as good footy players should. They can’t do it alone though. It’s time for the NRL to back them up. * If you or someone you know needs help, call beyondblue on 1300 22 46 36.