Learning to handle the tough stuff off the field

PROFESSIONAL rugby league players can handle the tough stuff during matches. But off the field they can face mental challenges that threaten to overwhelm them.

Now, a former star of the sport is to speak at a major NHS conference, describing his battle with depression that led to thoughts of suicide.

Danny Sculthorpe – whose clubs included Huddersfield Giants, Wigan, Castleford and Bradford – has become an ambassador for the State of Mind sport charity and has written a frank account of his mental health problems.

He speaks at schools, colleges, universities, workplaces and sports clubs about the importance of mental health and has become a qualified counsellor.

Now the ex-England captain is a keynote speaker at Health and Care Innovation Expo 2018. Taking place in Manchester on September 5 and 6, it is described as the biggest NHS-led event in the calendar.

The problem of mental health has been taken very seriously by the Rugby Football League, and a shift in attitudes has seen more and more players defying stigma in order to seek help by consulting the full-time welfare managers that all the top clubs must now employ.

It is a change in culture that has been charted and influenced by researchers at the University of Huddersfield. Their findings have relevance throughout the world of professional sport.

Heading the project is Dr Kiara Lewis, acting