Collingwood’s Dayne Beams walks Kokoda Track as part of 2020 preparation
After a year in which he struggled to get on the field, Collingwood’s Dayne Beams has ramped up his 2020 AFL preparations in the jungle of Papua New Guinea.
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Collingwood star Dayne Beams has completed the Kokoda Track to help ramp up his preparations for next season.
The gun midfielder completed the 96km trek through mountainous Papua New Guinea jungle with teammate Nathan Murphy as part of a small, guided group on Wednesday.
The eight-day mission shows Beams could be physically ready to return to training with the rest of Collingwood’s more experienced senior core players in early December.
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Beams, 29, underwent season-ending surgery on his hip in June, and later had a secondary operation on his shoulder.
Beams then announced in July he was taking an indefinite break from the game to focus on his mental health, saying he was “a broken man”.
“This is very, very real for myself and the people that I love at the moment,” Beams said.
While he has not trained fully for more than four months, Beams was this week able to navigate the single-file steep terrain which follows in the footsteps of some of Australia’s World War II heroes.
While he is intent on returning to the AFL next season, Beams’ mental health will be a priority in any future talks about his football career.
The Magpies remain hopeful Beams can play a meaningful role in the club’s premiership tilt next season on the back of a difficult first year back at Collingwood.
The club has supported the premiership midfielder through his mental health battle following the death of his father, Phillip, early in his final season at Brisbane Lions last year.
He was hospitalised last month after suffering an adverse reaction to pain medication.
Beams sought a shock trade to Collingwood at the end of last season to return to Melbourne as part of a deal for two first-round draft picks.
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He also took a pay cut to return to the club where he became a midfield superstar between 2009-2014.
But Beams played only nine games this year and was under duress before he went under the knife mid-year.
Beams, who is contracted until the end of 2022, encouraged anyone suffering from mental health issues to seek help.
“I am not posting this for people to feel sorry for me or to speculate about my life, I am posting this because this is an issue that I will continue to shine a light on because it is real and it can be so, so debilitating if it’s not treated.”
Originally published as Collingwood’s Dayne Beams walks Kokoda Track as part of 2020 preparation