Sydney coach John Longmire puts pressure on AFL to allow clubs to pay for psychologists outside of footy’s soft cap

Sydney premiership coach John Longmire has stepped up his fight to allow teams to pay for their own club psychologists outside of footy’s soft cap to help with their mental health battles.

Sydney coach John Longmire wants better mental health care for AFL players. Picture: Getty Images

John Longmire has stepped up his fight to allow teams to pay for their own club psychologists outside of footy’s soft cap to help with their mental health battles.

The Sydney premiership coach is battling against the league to get the best care for AFL players, saying clubs should have minimum standards for mental health care.

Longmire has long been a mental health advocate as Swans players Lance Franklin and Heath Grundy endured mental health issues.

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Sydney coach John Longmire wants better mental health care for AFL players. Picture: Getty Images

The AFL was recently rocked by Majak Daw’s recent fall from the Bolte Bridge.

Longmire hopes AFL football boss Steve Hocking is listening to his pleas, believing it has taken too long for the AFL to get real on mental health as a key issue.

The Herald Sun can reveal the league will, in coming months, create a new Head of Mental Health after a recommendation from its new Industry Governance Committee.

That person might, at some stage, consider exclusions from the soft cap but, this season, clubs will still have to consider whether they can afford to fit mental health professionals into their budget.

The Swans have clinical psychologist Suzie Rhydderch working four days a week, with Longmire adamant it produces strong outcomes for the club’s players.

He believes it is a standard every club should adopt.

“It’s taken us a long time as an industry to take (mental health) seriously,” he told the Herald Sun.

“I think we are at that point now and hopefully that’s a good thing.

“I am a believer in having a large part of the welfare budget and particularly psychologists and clinical psychologists outside the cap.

“We have had a clinical psychologist at our club for about 15 years.

Longmire’s high profile charge Lance Franklin has had mental health battles. Picture: Phil Hillyard

“We think it’s very important, particularly in the high pressure environment as coaches where we are trying to get the balance right between high performance and mental health and understanding it’s a serious issue.

“We are getting there but we are not there yet.

“I am a big supporter of minimum standards (of care) across the competition being led by the players association

“But also being absolutely handled on a day-to-day basis by the club, because they know the players best and the seriousness of that is a balance we try to get right.”

The football department cap is $9.5 million per year, and with many clubs spending their entire budget they have to sacrifice other priorities if they are to boost their welfare budget.

If they go over their footy department spending cap they effectively pay 100 per cent in tax for every extra dollar spent.

The most recent AFLPA data shows current and past AFL players accessed 1322 sessions with AFLPA-appointed mental health experts in 2017 for depression and anxiety.

But Longmire believes clubs must also have the ability to have their own psychologists given their unique understanding of players issues.

The AFLPA contributes nearly $1 million towards mental health programs with the newly formed Industry Governance Committee controlling the direction of player welfare programs.

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Originally published as Sydney coach John Longmire puts pressure on AFL to allow clubs to pay for psychologists outside of footy’s soft cap