Geelong assistant coach Steven King says recent tragedies underline the importance of health and wellbeing within AFL industry

Geelong assistant coach Steven King feels the devastating past week in football has put the health and wellbeing of the AFL industry into the spotlight.

Geelong assistant coach Steven King believes the tragedies that sent shockwaves through football world over the past week underline the importance of mental and physical health for those within the AFL industry.

Former Brisbane player Troy Selwood and West Coast premiership player Adam Hunter died suddenly last week and Essendon VFL coach David Tapping lost his battle with Myeloma, an aggressive blood cancer.

The funeral for Selwood, who spent over a decade at Geelong as a scout and VFL player, will be held GMHBA Stadium on Friday morning.

King said the death of Tapping in particular “hit home” for him.

Essendon assistant coach Dale Tapping passed away last week. Picture: Michael Klein

“There’s probably a few of the boys would have played football with Troy. Obviously everyone played with Joel, a prominent football family within this football club,” King said.

“Troy worked here with the staff as well, so it’s going to affect different people in different ways. But then again, there’s some new players, they have just come in and haven’t had that relationship with Troy at all.

“Our support goes to the Selwood family and our people here as well to make sure that they’re okay.

“I think just the industry as a whole with Dale Tapping’s passing, that hit home for me and all the coaches that have crossed paths with ‘Taps’ over time. He’s a great man and a great football person, so he’ll be missed as well.”

King, 46, had his own health scare ahead of last year’s preliminary final after he collapsed at a training session due to dehydration and exhaustion, having dashed over to Perth to interview for the West Coast coaching job.

He concedes there is strain on everyone in the high-stakes AFL industry and hopes that changes can be made to promote health and wellbeing.

“I feel like the pressure in the game, everyone feels that,” King said.

“I just feel after probably the week or two we’ve had the last couple of weeks, the industry as a whole sort of sits back and takes notice of men’s health in general.

“Whether that’s coaching, playing, past players, past coaches, physical and mental sort of health I think, for me, should be a high priority for men in general, but especially within this industry.

“Hopefully as an industry we do something about it and just make sure we look after our people.”

King’s comments comes amid growing calls for a dedicated AFL mental health round.

He believes Geelong provides him with great work-life balance but the former Cats captain has put changes in place after his medical episode to improve his health.

Steven King collapsed ahead of Geelong’s prelininary final last year. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos

“I’ve had a great pre-season, I’m available for selection,” King joked.

“I think I just cooked myself trying to juggle six balls with two hands.

“I’m fine, luckily for me it was probably an opportunity to have a full health check and it came back pretty positive. So I’m feeling really well now and probably not just try and train like I’m still playing and have a bit better balance myself.”

King still holds ambitions to be a senior coach after being in the race for the Eagles job, which was a whirlwind for the long-time assistant.

But he feels well-placed under dual premiership coach Chris Scott at Geelong.

“I certainly just want to keep just trying to be a great leader in the industry, whether that’s coaching or just being an assistant coach. So it’s still something that’s inside of me that wants to explore,” King said.

“I learned a lot out of (the West Coast process), it was the first time I’ve sort of sat down with a club and gone through the process. So from a personal development perspective, it was fantastic.

“And I’m sure I’ve learned a lot out of that about myself, my own coaching philosophies. But I’m on a great trajectory at the moment, working under Chris and all the great coaches here, and I’ve been really fortunate in my time in the game to work alongside some great people.”

An assistant coach at Gold Coast for three seasons, King said he still keeps in touch with Suns clearance king Matt Rowell, who reportedly met with Geelong in the off-season.

But he expects his former club to do their utmost to re-sign the 23-year-old.

“‘Rowelly’ and I do touch base. Look he’s a great player, I think any club out there would explore that opportunity for Rowelly to join their club,” King said.

“But I’m sure Gold Coast will fight and scrap to retain him.

“I think this club, what it does really well is offer an amazing environment for players to come and be their best and live a great lifestyle and play at a really successful team and club.

“So hopefully he’s considering all his options, but I’m sure he’ll make the right one for him.”

Originally published as Geelong assistant coach Steven King says recent tragedies underline the importance of health and wellbeing within AFL industry