Reece McKenzie has retired from AFL Football [update]

[The Machine]

Lashing out to seek attention.....common way people cry our for help. This is what the lad needs, help by professional people. I wish him well but it is not necessary to bag a club that supported you for 18 months. 

[Dougeytherichmondfan]

Speaking to a few guys who knew him in his junior days - by all accounts he had the talent. Was a possible top 10 pick before things went a bit pear shaped.

[TigerLand]

Good post TM.

A post by a young lad who is struggling with his life. A typical outburst of someone who needs help. That someone who has ability to be something very good, But then has no control over his  anxiety which can be crippling & debilitating. A perfect example happening right in front of our eyes. l feel for this young lad as l have seen this countless times. Anxiety affects people in so many ways & one of the strongest symptoms is chronic fatigue. This itself would have been a major factor why some players can't perform their job.  RFC could no longer keep him on & deciding in the best interests of all concerned to let him go to seek further help with professionals in that field.  Being back in his home state closer to his family is a good start. Regardless of him suffering this prior to coming to RFC. He would have been watched closely & had performed tasks covering all the ticks  to move to the next level. It does not take very much for general anxiety to kick in for anyone moving so far away from home, Away from family & friends & being with strangers trying to perform at a elite level that is extreme for most. l do hope this young fella can live life & enjoy any type of football in the future. Anxiety is not "Your a mental case" It a bit like being a adrenalin junkie. Some get a rush, Some get fatigued & exhausted without even doing anything & just can't do what their mind wants them too. It's a fear of failure & many other things. Everyone is different & everyone cope's with it in their own way. Everyone in life at some stage will suffer from anxiety which l have myself so l fully understand it. If you get the right help & communicate with many about it, You can live a very normal life. Anxiety / Depression seems to attack many types of people in sports.
This lad needs all the help he can get & it would be very weak & sad for anyone to attack him about what he is going through. The very best in health to you Reece.

[Penelope]

From his previous tweet, it seems he was not a Lids fan.  The concept of Lids not being a team player is gaining traction.

I did mention this a number of times previously.  Shame we didn't pee B2 off also.

Nothing like taking the word of somebody who for his own sake should probably never been drafted, and obviously doesn't like anybody who has some expectation of him.
To come out and attack the RFC and Dan Richardson like he has is just wrong, but in the present state of mind I'm not sure anybody should give him any credibility

 
you do actually read what gets posted here?

[Owl]

YOU RUINED MY AFL DREAM!!!!!

[(•))(©™]

Everyone's a psychiatrist.
L M A O

[one-eyed]

It's hit the mainstream media tonight:

Former Richmond footballer Reece McKenzie lashes out at the club with no-holds-barred social media rant

news.com.au
November 2, 2016  9:30pm

A YOUNG AFL player, dropped by the Richmond Tigers after just 18 months, has gone on an astonishing social media rant railing against his former club claiming he was mistreated by the footy side and he was now “a broken man”.

On its website, Richmond describes Reece McKenzie as a “young key forward (with) all the physical attributes to make the grade,” but warns he, “needs to keep working on his running ability”.

If that could be conquered, the site says, “the Tigers believe he is capable of being an exciting AFL player.”

But earlier this year, McKenzie retired from the team which Richmond put down to mental health issues with the Tigers wishing him “all the best”.

In his blistering Facebook post, however, Channel 7 reports that McKenzie disputes he retired at all and said he quit, because if had stayed, “I would have killed myself no doubt.”



Here’s the scathing social media post in full.

“When you have intolerable levels of anxiety and depression and have developed an eating disorder causing you to lose all of your friends all because of an incompetent, dysfunctional, joke and embarrassment of a club.

“I didn’t retire from football because of mental health reasons, I quit Richmond, I f***ing quit because if I had continued to receive the treatment that they were giving me I would have killed myself no doubt.

“No person at any profession deserves the treatment I received, they are a disgrace to professional sporting clubs around the world and it’s no wonder they got someone else in to do Dan Richardson’s job because he knows f*** all about football and f*** all about basic human care.

“When I was 16 I tried to commit suicide, but I failed, I failed because in those moment of agony I told myself that I would one day play AFL and that was the only thing that was going to keep me going and then one day I got there only to have my dream taken away by a joke of a club that doesn’t know how to take care of its players.

“I am now a broken man because of this. Football was my life and now I don’t even know if I will ever be able to return to the football field because of my anxiety.

“They even tried to silence me by signing a deed of release that was going to have a silence clause for life but instead I signed one that was for a ‘reasonable period of time’.

“Well you know what, I find it a pretty damn reasonable period of time … f*** you Richmond, thanks for ruining my life, just hope you don’t f*** someone else’s up too.”



Richmond football club has yet to comment.

McKenzie is the son of 1987 Carlton premiership player Warren McKenzie.

If you need help with depression, please see Beyond Blue for a list of organisations that can help.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/former-richmond-footballer-reece-mckenzie-lashes-out-at-the-club-with-noholdsbarred-social-media-rant/news-story/a6fc0198029f745d7c2803415ce2ff1e

[Damo]

Everyone's a psychiatrist.
L M A O

You have an opinion on anything and everything. Why can't others?

The simple fact is that this kid has issues.

BLIND FREDDY CAN SEE THAT.

Don't need a degree as a psychiatrist.

[one-eyed]

Connolly: Reaction to McKenzie post must be considered

By Joshua Papanikolaou
SEN
2 November 2016

A facebook post from former Richmond player Reece McKenzie is terribly sad reading and the reaction to his accusations against the Tigers should be carefully articulated, says Rohan Connolly.

The 20-year-old, who retired earlier this year after spending 18 months on the Tigers list, has alleged that the club did not manage his mental illness issues correctly and only made them worse.

“I’ve read the post and when I read it my initial reaction was concern about where he is at right now because there’s a lot of anger there,” said Connolly on SEN radio.

“And a lot of, I wouldn’t call it a cry for attention, but I think it’s someone who is really not in a great place.

“You know if you see this post it makes no bones about sheeting home blame for exacerbating his condition I suppose.

“I agree, I just think we’ve got to be very careful how we talk about it and I feel empathy for him but I… gee from a Richmond Football Club perspective, I’d hope that some of the things that he’s alleged aren’t the case.”

Connolly himself has publicly shared his own troubles with mental health and understands the difficulties everyone associated with a person in such a situation can face.

It was also alleged by McKenzie that he was asked to sign a document meaning he could not talk about his mental health issues publicly.

“I wouldn’t for a moment suggest that I know what he’s going through but yes I’ve had depression,” explained Connolly.

“I can honestly say I’ve never considered taking my life or anything which Reece actually mentions here.

“Well I guess I have more empathy now for people who have to deal with a person with those issues – I ostracised a lot of people close to me and I look back on it now and think I wish I hadn’t done that.

“But in some ways you’re not in the right place to be able to make rational decisions.”

https://www.sen.com.au/news/2016/11/02/connolly-reaction-to-mckenzie-post-must-be-considered/

[(•))(©™]

Everyone's a psychiatrist.
L M A O

You have an opinion on anything and everything. Why can't others?

The simple fact is that this kid has issues.

BLIND FREDDY CAN SEE THAT.

Don't need a degree as a psychiatrist.

Yeh nah you can and you do.....doc.

[Jackstar 1960]

It's all very sad
Most clubs shied away from drafting Reece after interviewing him before the draft
Richmond gave him the opportunity and provided support
Club is not to blame in this instance
Don't know where this goes from here

[cub]

Doesnt go anywhere stuff him hes gone, we have no duty of care. we are a football club ffs 

[WilliamPowell]

Don't know where this goes from here

From the club's perspective it goes nowhere

No point in responding

Best leave it.

[Harry]

A shame Reece isn't aboriginal.

#Equality.

lol

[Tigeritis™©®]

It's all very sad
Most clubs shied away from drafting Reece after interviewing him before the draft
Richmond gave him the opportunity and provided support
Club is not to blame in this instance
Don't know where this goes from here

I've got to say I'm not surprised at all.

Maybe Richmond drafted him because he was one of those late Francis Betamax Jackson "specials" he couldn't resist after apparently watching an eye catching highlights vid. 

Did anyone at the club interview him or his club? If we had a competent recruiter we may have passsed on him like every other club did. By recruiting him to a club with an extremely poor useless development (arguably the worst in the AFL) department the club had done this young fellow and his family a disserviceby giving him false hope they could help him.
How many times has our club helped a player improve?


Richmond FC, ruining careers since '83.