‘Painful truth’ the AFL needs to address in wake of Adam Selwood’s death

Former players are uniting in their calls for the AFL to take action and implement change after the shock death of Adam Selwood.

Calls for the AFL to implement a mental health round are becoming deafening in the wake of Adam Selwood’s shock death.

The 41-year-old’s death on Saturday left the footy world in mourning with his passing coming three months after his twin brother Troy took his own life.

Their death’s join an ever-growing list of former players to have died far too young and have sparked conversations around the need for more to be done within the league.

Former players have begun to unite in their calls for the AFL to go a step further and become the voice for change with a mental health round.

While the AFL have previously stated that implementing a mental health round remains a consideration, the time has come for the league to act.

Former Carlton and Brisbane star Brendan Fevola has been vocal in his call to action and said the league isn’t doing enough in shining a light on the mental health struggles that men endure.

Scott and Joel Selwood are now the last of the brothers. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

The deaths of Adam and Troy have rocked the AFL community.

“We see it all the time that players have mental health problems, and I just feel like the AFL aren’t equipped ... or doesn’t shine enough light on mental health for men,” Fevola said in February following the deaths of Troy Selwood and Adam Hunter.

“It doesn’t get spoken about enough ... when I was going through some problems, I never told anyone. I thought I was this big footy player. I earn a bit of money, and if I said something I thought people wouldn’t like me.”

An internal study released by the AFL Players’ Association in April showed that the number of former players seeking mental health support rose 23.6 per cent in 2024 compared to 2023.

From 2021 to 2024, the number of former players seeing a mental health expert has doubled.

It shows an alarming trend in what players are going through after they hang up the boots and vacate the bubble that is life inside the AFL.

Bernie Vince spoke about his journey in the league and how being in it from such a young age can take a toll on the mental health of any player.

The 39-year-old, who entered the league at 20, said players are immediately thrust onto a pedestal and coming down from that is the hardest part of it all.

“I think the Selwood family hits home because they just seemed like, well they were great football family,” Vince said on SAFM’s Bernie & Emma G for Breakfast.

“But they reflect the painful truth that a lot of retired athletes go through.

“Whether you like it or not, no matter what sport you play, if you’re a professional athlete at the top level, you get put on a pedestal.

“You get sucked into it, I got sucked into it of thinking that you’re better than other people at stages, which it’s just the sad truth of it.

“You get put up to a place where you get treated differently and you like it. You like the feeling of that because you feel special and you get all the perks that come with it.

“Falling into that is a lot easier than falling out of it. But falling out of it is the hard one. It can swallow you up and you’re so young as well when you enter that world.”

Former Eagle Adam Hunter died in February. Picture: Jackson Flindell.

Adam Selwood died on Saturday. Source: Facebook

Vince said the league does so much to raise awareness for major issues going on in society, but says the time has come for a mental health round to be implemented.

“I think it’s time for the AFL, we have a lot of rounds to identify different things in society and I think it’s time for a mental health round,” Vince said.

“They have indigenous round. We have lots of different rounds. We just had indigenous around on the weekend to raise awareness.

“I think it’s time to do that for mental health. There’s been a lot of chat around it. I think it’s time now.”

Despite calls for the AFL to take action, North Melbourne premiership player and mental health advocate Wayne Schwass said he had approached the league on several occasions but was informed that there were “too many themed rounds”.

“I am not sure why, or the reluctance of the AFL, but what I am sure of is one loss of life is too many,” Schwass said to The Age.

The 56-year-old said the league could be hugely powerful and would help remove the stigma that surrounds mental health.

Troy Selwood’s death rocked the AFL in February.

”It takes courageous leadership,” Schwass said.

“I would urge the AFL, the leaders, to see this as an opportunity to honour the lives lost … but proactively begin to change attitudes, perceptions and abolish stigma. There is an enormous opportunity here if they are willing to be brave and bold. We need to be better. We don’t need to be the experts, I am not expecting them to be the experts, but the AFL needs to take a seat at this table.

“There is another reason why we should have a themed mental health round: because it is the number one reason what the players are challenged with and are confronting.”

Former Eagle Brayden Ainsworth said overcoming the stigma surrounding mental health is the biggest hurdle for players.

But he implored the league to continue to step up and help remove it so players don’t feel the need to hide and push their emotions down.

“The stigma still plays a massive role and as much as it’s getting talked about and getting better, I still think there’s that stigma behind it,” Ainsworth said to The West Australian.

“You’re built to be tough, you’re built to be self-reliant, hyper-focused and you struggle to see talking and opening up and asking for help as a strength. We keep continuing to see it as weakness.”

As Oscar Allen so perfectly put it on Sunday night: “I just urge anybody out there who is struggling with anything, please reach out. Helplines, friends, reach out to each other.”

It’s time for the AFL to become a beacon of light and implement a mental health round.

Originally published as ‘Painful truth’ the AFL needs to address in wake of Adam Selwood’s death