Ipswich Jets focus on player welfare expands to QRL teams
“We start the game together, we finish the game together with a very simple message: That we might be enemies on the field but once it’s finished, we are all mates having the same battles in life.’’
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EVEN as on-field enemies, rugby league players can still be great mates.
Just as importantly, rugby league teammates can look after each other’s welfare.
That was the valuable message shared as the Ipswich Jets battled the Burleigh Bears in their latest Intrust Super Cup match.
Even though the Jets lost 44-26, the mood around the North Ipswich Reserve was one of supporting those doing it tough.
Dedicated Ipswich Jets chairman Steve Johnson and club wellbeing and education officer Josh Chandler have been playing leading roles.
Johnson helped establish what has become the Queensland Rugby League’s Turn to Me Round, played annually for a number of seasons.
Chandler, as a chaplain, has been supporting the Jets at club level for seven years.
With coffee in hand and watching the Jets toil against the Bears, Johnson explained why the mental health and wellbeing initiative was so important.
“When we started the Turn to Me awareness campaign, it’s about trying to help players’ with better resilience and to understand that in these tough times in life - and we all do - that they can reach out to their coach, reach out to their mates.
“Reach out to someone to have a conversation. Men are reluctant to talk and we recognised that all those years ago.
“We were the first mental health campaign in rugby league.’’
After the Jets established their own program many years ago, Johnson joined with Queensland rugby league great Petero Civoniceva and former Samoan international footballer Isaak Ah Mau to expand the concept. Ah Mau played for the Jets in 2007 and the club’s grand final team in 2008.
“At that stage, it was particularly the Pacific Island boys that they needed to understand that they did have someone to talk to,’’ Johnson said.
“From there, we expanded that concept across the game. The QRL quickly embraced it.’’
Johnson praised the QRL team led by David Maiden for “outstandingly’’ supporting it since.
“You can never lose sight of the fact that it’s okay for men to talk about issues and not to bottle it up,’’ he said.
“That’s why I’m very proud that the three of us started it but since then, the QRL has championed it.’’
Over the weekend, all Intrust Super Cup players wore blue socks representing a “clearing of the skies after turbulent times’’.
As the Jets chaplain, Chandler offers a vital service for the players, often behind the scenes but always keeping a close eye on what’s happening.
“I look after pretty much everything off the field,’’ he said, having focused more on wellbeing since 2016.
“A big part of that is the players’ general wellbeing.
“We try not to focus too much on mental health specifically. We try to improve their all-round wellbeing and then a by-product of that is good mental health.
“But on specific days like today, mental health is something we are willing to look at.’’
Chandler likes to keep a low profile as someone easy to talk to and respectful of players’ privacy.
“I sort of blend in with the crowd and stuff,’’ he said.
“I like the work. It works really well with the boys too.
“It’s kind of a role where they have to see me but at the same time, I don’t want to be too public.
“I just genuinely love being in and around the footy club and especially looking after young fellas and having 16s and 18s as well.’’
Silkstone-based Chandler looks after all four grades at the Jets.
He started as a chaplain, continuing that role while focusing on other aspects of wellbeing, backed by the NRL.
“They basically rolled out what they are doing with the NRL clubs to all Q-Cup clubs,’’ he said.
“They put us through a Cert 4, an elite player wellbeing and education.
“We do our training through them and that way you sort of got enough to know how to deal with the immediate issues if there are any.
“But then we also got pathways to send the players down that’s funded by the NRL to help them professionals if they need it.’’
Johnson said the Jets were the first club at state league level to have a wellbeing officer, started in 2006 with former international player Noel Gallagher.
“He played for Australia and he was a church pastor and very caring,’’ he said.
“He had no connection with the Jets other than I knew him and he wanted to give back.
“We’ve taken it to a higher since and with support from the Queensland Rugby League and some funding, Josh (Chandler) can now work in a meaningful way with our players.
“It is so important to have someone like Josh around that they feel comfortable to talk to and Josh and his New Hope church have been outstanding.
“They have gone out of their way to make sure that if need be, there’s a woman counsellor.
“People don’t know how many times Josh and the church have become involved.’’
Johnson has been Jets chairman for more than three decades, being one of Ipswich’s leading officials.
He continues to work on ways to help players in need, in line with his “Jets family’’ approach.
He also appreciated musician Pete Murray lobbying his own record label to allow the campaign to use his apt song Better days and avoid a licence fee.
“Pete was very passionate and a great support to it as well, which gave it that impetus at the very start,’’ Johnson said.
“So the QRL has worked very hard at it since to keep it alive.
“It makes a very relevant message.’’
Johnson summed it up perfectly.
“We start the game together, we finish the game together with a very simple message: That we might be enemies on the field but once it’s finished, we are all mates having the same battles in life.
“A lot of players now swap clubs. They have a lot of friendships across the competition. So it’s very important that they maintain friendships and talk.
“In the modern world, people text on a phone, they email. They have lost the art of a conversation so people become a bit insular.’’
He said people needed to have a conversation and enjoy each other’s company.
Where help is available
For information on depression, anxiety and related disorders, available treatments and where to get help, contact one of the NRL’s mental health and wellbeing partners.
Headspace Ipswich: (07) 3280 7900
Lifeline: 13 11 14
The Black Dog Institute: www.blackdoginstitute.org.au
Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800
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