SPEAK UP! Stay ChatTY founder Mitch McPherson calls for AFL mental health round

The death of Adam Selwood is a ‘harder one to swallow’ for SPEAK UP! Stay ChatTY founder Mitch McPherson, who says ‘lives depend’ on a mental health round in the AFL.

The AFL is being urged to introduce an annual mental health round. Picture: AAP Image/Mal Fairclough

SPEAK UP! Stay ChatTY founder Mitch McPherson has thrown his weight behind a national push for the AFL to hold an annual mental health round after yet another tragic loss rocked the football community.

In a Talking Point in today’s Mercury (Page 16), McPherson has called on the league to take a greater leadership role in mental health awareness and suicide prevention, following the recent death of former West Coast Eagles player Adam Selwood.

No details have been released about the circumstances of the 41-year-old Selwood’s death, which came just three months after his twin brother Troy died from suicide.

Mitch McPherson. Picture: Richard Jupe

McPherson lost his brother Ty to suicide in 2013, which prompted him to start the mental health charity SPEAK UP! Stay ChatTY.

He said he couldn’t “think of a better way to bring people together and to highlight the importance of seeking help” than to have the AFL put a national spotlight on the issue.

“I just think it’d just be such a game-changer in terms of breaking the stigma down, particularly in sport, particularly for people that are in sporting clubs. Whether we like it or not, there is still a real stigma there,” he told the Mercury.

McPherson said Adam Selwood’s death had had a profound impact on him.

The late Adam Selwood playing for the West Coast Eagles.

“This was a real tough one, just the storyline around it, the devastation about [he and Troy] being twins; it was just a harder one to swallow. There are a lot of other people that I know bereaved by suicide that felt that, as well,” he said.

Following the death by suicide of AFL legend Danny Frawley in 2019, St Kilda began hosting an annual fixture called Spud’s Game, aimed at promoting mental health awareness.

But momentum has grown recently for a dedicated competition-wide mental health round to be held each year, which McPherson said would be a meaningful step for the AFL to take.

“I think that getting on the front foot now and really showing that we actually mean business about this and we don’t want it to happen again, we do want to make a difference – it would be a really strong statement by the AFL and any other sporting code to make it a really common fixture,” he said.

AFL CEO Andrew Dillon. Photo by Darrian Traynor/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

Asked about the potential for a mental health round, AFL CEO Andrew Dillon told 7NEWS the league would “focus on making sure that all of our players … just have all the tools and the access to everything that they need to make sure they’re OK”.

“How that plays out, I think that’s something we’ll take advice on from the experts,” he said.

Former Carlton star Brendan Fevola publicly called for a mental health round to be introduced in February after the deaths of Troy Selwood and ex-West Coast player Adam Hunter.

If you or someone you know needs help, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or MensLine Australia on 1300 789 978.

Originally published as SPEAK UP! Stay ChatTY founder Mitch McPherson calls for AFL mental health round