Former Australian Rules footballer Shaun Edwards has now been out of the game for a year. Now he’s focussing on mentoring kids and showing them education and pursuing their dreams really is the key

LAST WEEK marked one year “out of the game” and it’s a day every athlete has to face. I’m writing to you from 100 W 33rd Street Manhattan, far from the lush fields of Melbourne and even further from the wet- lands of the Northern Territory where I grew up.

Retiring at 23 after seven years in the AFL system was the hardest decision I have had to make. I thought long and hard about the stereotype of indigenous players leaving the game and what effect my decision would have on the next batch of hopeful Territorian draftees and most importantly, how this would affect those closest to me.

Rafiki, from the Lion King, said “change is good” and I couldn’t agree with him

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