Association aims to help former players
Mario Xuereb | August 18, 2007 | The Age
MAKING the switch from football star to born-again layman was easier in his day, according to legendary Richmond forward Michael Roach.
"It was a pretty smooth transition back then," said Roach, who retired in 1989. "I went to work."
Roach, who played 200 games for the Tigers over a 12-year career, also prolonged his AFL connection through the media and as a Tigers' reserves coach.
But for most AFL retirees, the end of their careers is sudden and anonymous, the effects of which remain to be documented fully.
"It's a not just a sport, it's a lifestyle, and it's a 24-7 lifestyle," AFL Players Association president Brendon Gale said.
"But at some stage, the music stops, and guys have to go out and make adjustments and develop skills in other areas. Sometimes, guys struggle to deal with that.
"The facts are, the average career lasts a little over four years … so as soon as you join the system, you've got to be mindful of leaving it," Gale said.
It is something the association has long aimed to address.
It recently announced a survey of former players' lives after football, including the state of their bodies, mental health, depression and related conditions.
The association, which now admits past AFL players into its ranks, is slowly expanding its services to include the game's retirees, including medical referrals to specialist doctors and its own private health insurance program.
Gale said: "It's about providing a range of support around health and wellbeing. Clearly, depression is one of those, and I don't think depression discriminates. Past players aren't immune to that."
Former Kangaroos and Geelong player Leigh Colbert, who retired in 2005 after years of injury, said the focus on current and former players' mental health was an essential development of the game.
"Depression has been around forever, but it's only been of late that people have spoken up about it," Colbert said.
"Some guys are still a bit old-school, but the more and more people that are coming out about it and finding that you can get some help, and identify the signs early enough, probably makes it a little bit easier for everyone else."
Colbert said players who don't suffer depression still battle with the pressures football inflicts.
"I think that's just natural. There aren't too many (footballers) who wouldn't have had times when they have struggled physically and mentally. But I think the support of family and the footy clubs that I've played with were great."
Roach is another supporter of the association extending its reach to past players, many of whom competed in times without support for mental health concerns.
"It was hard back then," Roach said. "Firstly, we didn't know about depression in those days and it wasn't discussed like it is now.
"Nobody would come out and say that they had depression.
"Now some players are quite willing to come out and discuss things, whereas back in our day, they maybe suffered on their own and kept it to themselves.
"I don't know whether we were too busy, or we didn't see it."
http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/news/association-aims-to-help-former-players/2007/08/17/1186857775927.html
