Tackling mental health: Neville Jetta is part of a push for footballers to rediscover their love of the game
Mental health is one of the biggest concerns in the AFL. But how exactly are clubs going to continue to tackle it in the post-COVID-19 world? In this special feature, Sam Landsberger looks at the issue from all sides.
AFL News
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Neville Jetta swapped his footy boots for the car keys.
His wife, Samantha, had been diagnosed with anxiety and panic attack disorder and getting behind the wheel often triggered an episode.
As Jetta stepped up as the family chauffeur, Melbourne’s interstate trips — where Jetta would spend two nights away — became problematic.
A pre-season camp in Maroochydore became unrealistic.
“I didn’t feel comfortable leaving my wife and my children at home, so we had a discussion with the football club and I decided the best thing for me was to stay and do my training here,” Jetta, 30, said.
“I missed the first half of the camp, which was tough, but family came first and it will always come first.”
Jetta was a young boy living in Bunbury when he first wrapped his head around the issue.
“Dad went through a tough period as a child being part of the stolen generation,” the star defender said.
“When you speak about generational trauma, I could feel that through him, and I’m not the only one who could feel that from our indigenous community.”
When Jetta was 13 his mum started to withdraw from the community. She was diagnosed with depression.
“As one of five (siblings) we probably started to lose our mum a little bit,” Jetta said.
“It ripples right across Australia and it’s not only the indigenous community — mental health doesn’t discriminate against anyone.”
Relive classic AFL matches from the 60s to today on KAYO SPORTS. New to Kayo? Get your 14-day free trial & start streaming instantly >
Mental health has been the game’s No.1 issue over the last five years, according to AFL Players’ Association boss Paul Marsh.
“When I came in, having come from cricket which is a different culture, I was shocked at how little the players were enjoying this industry,” Marsh said.
Former Adelaide coach Don Pyke used his farewell press conference last September to state that heightened scrutiny was eroding enjoyment in football.
“I hope in the future we can find a better balance in how we view the game, regardless of the result, otherwise I do fear for the people’s genuine love of the game,” Pyke said.
Some players feel there is no escape nowadays. Every training session is filmed, GPS units track how hard they are working and the media spotlight burns bright.
When Marsh arrived the AFLPA had a psychology network in place where players could tap in all around the country.
Last year a 40 per cent increase in the use of that 200-psych network from past and present players was recorded. It was the fourth consecutive year the uptake grew.
“If you had an issue and you identified you had an issue you could tap into the network,” Marsh said.
“But it was quite a reactive service.”
The AFL industry has since built a more proactive mental health literacy that senior coaches are now embracing.
“We’ve said this is the biggest issue for the players and I feel as though the coaches are seeing it that way as well now,” Marsh said.
“That’s where a shift is really coming. You can have a very negative impact or a very positive impact depending on how you go.
“I feel as though things have improved in my 5½ years. The clubs are balancing their time a lot better than they used to. It’s no longer a ‘more-is-better’ philosophy.
“There’s serious talk about shorter pre-seasons and I think the players are enjoying the environment more than what they were.
“It doesn’t mean we can’t get better, but there’s been a shift there.”
The AFLPA says it has data to back up that shift.
They’ve been conducting “Player Insight” surveys since 2013, where players are quizzed on how they spend their downtime, their workplace culture and what support mechanisms are offered.
The results are returned to clubs four weeks later, benchmarked against the club’s historical data. Clubs can then opt to get an anonymous ranking of where they sit in the league.
“It would be fair to say the clubs didn’t like it very much at the start, but what we’ve now seen is all of the clubs have improved year on year and we’re at really strong measures now,” Marsh said
“To the credit of the clubs and the coaches, they’ve taken this feedback seriously.
“(AFL Coaches’ Association boss) Mark Brayshaw has said to me since day one that no one cares more about the players than the coaches, and part of our job has been to bring awareness of some of the issues that the players are bringing to us to the coaches.
“Once we’ve made that connection, the coaches have picked it up and run with it.”
Jetta, who is an ambassador for Tackle Your Feelings, established a strong communication line with coach Simon Goodwin and psychologist Dave Williams to navigate his challenges.
Williams left the Demons for Geelong at the end of last year.
“I’ve been at Melbourne for 12 years, so I’ve seen the worst of the worst,” he said.
“They (coaches) can make it a good experience or a really bad experience. I’ve probably had both, but where we’re at right now I’m enjoying my football.
“I’m just trying to have a more holistic view in terms of improving my football but understanding me as a person needs to improve much more.
“To know that I’m improving as a person is probably more important right now to me, and I dare say a few other players as well.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has created a fresh wave of challenges, and AFLPA player development boss Ben Smith has spent the shutdown period on the phone to every club checking in on their players.
“A lot of the challenge in the first period of this, from a wellbeing perspective, is that anxiety of what does the future look like? Am I going to have a contract next year?” Smith said.
More than 500 players dialled into a financial education workshop last month as they grappled with 50 per cent pat cuts.
That was no surprise, because more than 350 players — around 20 at each club, and a few more at Carlton, Hawthorn, Melbourne and North Melbourne — do not have a contract for next season.
With list sizes likely to shrink that is a lot of players who must be fearing their time in the sun is almost up.
“We set up financial education workshops for players within the first week or two of them being in that reduced income space,” Smith said.
“We made 18 individual Zoom calls and made sure they were aware of all of the things that are available to them to help reduce that salary gap, such as the government stimulus.”
Smith was pleased that “almost every club has kept on some sort of psych resource” despite the mass stand downs and the AFL has ordered every club to employ a psychologist when footy returns on shoestring budgets next month.
Currently, clubs are trying to stay connected in different ways.
GWS players jump on a call with coach Leon Cameron and football boss Jason McCartney every Friday while St Kilda players have been enjoying a quiet beer over Zoom every Saturday night.
New North Melbourne leader Jasper Pittard has set up a virtual coffee club, where players and coaches can sip on a latte at home and chew the fat.
Meditation is one program AFL clubs invest heavily in.
GWS coach Cameron was introduced to meditation eight years ago by former Western Bulldogs teammate Luke Darcy.
Now Cameron finds a quiet place before every game.
“It seems a little bit funny, because I never, ever thought that I would (meditate) when I started coaching,” he said.
“How can I sit in a room on my own for 20 minutes knowing that there’s a game coming around in an hour and a bit?
“But it helps me relax and helps me deal with the big picture and that is it is only a game.”
The Giants’ meditation program — open to all players and staff — is into its third year now.
Some Giants dedicate three 20-minute blocks each day to meditation while mindfulness coach Emma Murray has worked with Richmond’s entire list since 2017.
When Western Bulldogs captain Marcus Bontempelli set up his home gym during lockdown he started by laying down a yoga mat for meditating.
Before Round 1 about 12 Bombers, including Andrew McGrath, Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti and Dylan Shiel, lay on the Marvel Stadium turf to meditate.
Hawks assistant Sam Mitchell was concerned that programs such as pilates and yoga would face the chop due to COVID-19.
But the emphasis Grand Finalists GWS and Richmond have placed on mindfulness is clear.
“You wouldn’t have been coming off the track after a hard session 10 years ago and going, ‘OK, you’ve got a meditation block and you’ve got a weights block and a touch block’,” Cameron said.
“There’ll be lots of people practising mindfulness and meditation as part of dealing with anxiety and some of the challenges they have.”
LOCAL FOOTY EMBRACING MENTAL HEALTH HELP
Community football clubs have been granted access to the same mental health literacy that has been designed for AFL players and coaches.
While COVID-19 has hindered Tackle Your Feelings, the program aims to educate 500 local clubs, train 5000 coaches and impact 50,000 people over the next five years.
It is currently being delivered over Zoom to help local coaches upskill before footy returns.
Ambassador Leon Cameron conducted a workshop in Wagga before Greater Western Sydney’s pre-season game against Richmond this year and is passionate about promoting mental health awareness.
“I’m from the country outside Warrnambool and you grow up thinking people are indestructible,” GWS coach Cameron said.
“There are so many people in the country that are so stoic they don’t want to talk about issues that they’re going through.
“When Tackle Your Feelings came on the agenda it was a no-brainer because me and all the other coaches just want to help community coaches have a better awareness of how you deal with some of the issues people have.
“Whether it be a young kid you’re coaching at Wagga or a trainer or whatever, it’s just the ability to say, ‘How are you tracking?’ and how you follow-up on that and invite them into your world a little bit more to find out how they’re actually going.
“One in five people are suffering from a mental health issue, depression or anxiety or whatever that may be. That’s too many. Imagine if we can get to that many people across the country?”
AFL Players’ Association boss Paul Marsh said mental health was the No.1 issue when he crossed from cricket six years ago.
“I was shocked at how little the players were enjoying this industry,” Marsh said.
“We’ve developed content that we roll out across the whole industry, which now we’re giving to this program to roll out to all the community clubs.
“So community clubs are getting the same content that all the AFL players and coaches and clubs are getting.
“Community clubs are central to most communities, particular rural communities. So to be able to educate some of these coaches around mental health is going to have such a huge multiplier effect.
“It’s the same message that everyone is getting and that’s important.”
AFL Coaches’ Association boss Mark Brayshaw said the tragic death of former Adelaide coach Phil Walsh helped create the program through a partnership with Zurich Insurance.
“The beauty is we’ve partnered with the APS - Australian Psychology Society – so these programs are delivered by a credible, local psych,” Brayshaw said.
“And when we pack up and leave, that psych is there as a resource for the coaches. It’s free of charge (for local clubs) and it equips them.”
Program manager Nick Walsh said locals arrived at Cameron’s Wagga workshop “in tractors, straight from the farm with dirty boots on” – and the session was tailored for them.
“Leon stood up in front of 18 coaches and said, ‘We’re not expecting you to be therapists or psychologists. We are expecting you to be therapeutic and have care and empathy for your players and know your players’,” Walsh said.
MORE NEWS:
AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan confirms AFL restart plans
AFL to release new fixture for first matches of footy’s restart in next 10 days
Four clubs will relocate to Gold Coast hub and families can join them
TACKLE YOUR FEELINGS
*TYF is a free mental health program aiming to educate 5000 local footy coaches over five years.
*The program gives coaches the skills to understand, recognise and manage signs of mental health.
*It’s a partnership between the AFLPA, AFLCA and Zurich Insurance.
*The program is led by ambassadors GWS coach Leon Cameron, Melbourne star Neville Jetta and Fremantle AFLW captain Kara Antonio.
*Visit tackleyourfeelings.org.au to register for the program and watch videos featuring AFL coaches and players sharing their mental health stories.
Tackle Your Feelings is a free mental health training program specifically for community AFL coaches. Go to tackleyourfeelings.org.au to register for the online program and see videos featuring Leon Cameron, Neville Jetta, Kara Antonio and Brett Ratten sharing their Tackle Your Feelings Story.
Originally published as Tackling mental health: Neville Jetta is part of a push for footballers to rediscover their love of the game