NRL stars Johnathan Thurston Cameron Smith leading fight to address mental health

JOHNATHAN Thurston and Cameron Smith are leading the fight to address mental health amid fears depression is on the rise in the NRL.

LEAGUE’S two biggest stars, Johnathan Thurston and Cameron Smith, are leading the fight to address mental health amid fears depression is on the rise in the NRL.

Thurston and Smith have joined forces to beat the “black dog”, reflecting their growing concern for the mental state of rugby league’s elite players.

“What people aren’t seeing is the mental health and wellbeing issues we want to address,” Smith said.

The NRL’s 16 captains met with NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg in Sydney on Thursday to be briefed on the state of the game, including its financial position.

In the past fortnight, Australian sport has been rocked by the shock death of former Wallaby Dan Vickerman and the tragic public free fall of Olympic champion Grant Hackett.

Smith and Thurston know NRL stars are not immune to the trauma of depression.

Smith worries for players on two fronts — the pressure to perform during their careers and the fear of a new life when their NRL career is over.

“What really concerns me is post-football career transitioning for players,” Smith said.

“There is a trend in our game at the moment where players are struggling to cope, not all guys, but some aren’t handling the next phase of their life well.

“The NRL is aware of how the senior players feel.”

Cameron Smith and Johnathan Thurston have joined forces to beat the “black dog”.

If anyone knows the sometimes crushing pressures of the NRL spotlight, it is Thurston.

In 2010, the Cowboys board voted to sack him after he was arrested over a drunken incident outside Brisbane’s Treasury Casino.

Thurston spent a night in the Brisbane watch-house.

His manager Sam Ayoub hired a private investigator and tabled a dossier of the night to the Cowboys board to clear his name. It saved his career at the Cowboys.

Now an NRL icon, Thurston admits his public shaming seven years ago pushed him to the brink of depression.

“I haven’t had days as dark as some guys, but when I got locked up in 2010, the weeks after that was pretty tough,” Thurston recalls.

“But it’s nowhere near what some other boys in our game have been through. I’ve experienced hard times, but not as hard as some.

“There is so much pressure on players, some can handle it and some can’t.

“As a game we need to put things in place where they don’t have to do it by themselves … there’s help out there.

“We are seeing the players now turn to that and get help and that’s a good outcome.”

The NRL’s 16 captains met with NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg in Sydney on Thursday.

Thurston waged a verbal war with Mitchell Pearce during an Origin clash two years ago, but speaks glowingly of Pearce’s rejuvenation.

“I heard he’s been doing some really good things in the community,” he said.

“I hear he’s been doing workshops. I’ve never experienced it, but I guess it would be tough to do when you are talking to a room full of people who have their own demons.

“It takes a special person to do that so I’m happy he’s back playing footy and his head is in the right space.’’

Greenberg praised Thurston and Smith for showing the leadership to put mental health on the game’s agenda.

“It’s a serious issue and the players need to buy into that as much as we do,” he said.

NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg.

“So it was really heartening to see the players actually wanting to contribute to that issue, because they see it every day too.

“We’ve got a real opportunity to take the stigma away. People go through mental issues across our society, but rugby league has an opportunity to use its voice for the greater good.

“When players of Cameron’s ilk speak openly and passionately about that, that’s a great thing and we’ll be doing more of it.’’

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