Tigers veteran Benji Marshall warns pressure and scrutiny could push players ‘to the edge’
Wests Tigers veteran Benji Marshall worries the pressure and scrutiny that comes with being a rugby league superstar can be a huge burden and could even push someone ‘to the edge’.
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Wests Tigers grandmaster Benji Marshall has warned an NRL player could be pushed “to the edge” if hounded in the way South Sydney’s Latrell Mitchell has been over the past six months.
Earlier this week, Mitchell’s teammate Adam Reynolds suggested the intense scrutiny could drive the young superstar from the NRL, comparing him with how Michael Jordan quit the NBA in the 1990s — as documented in The Last Dance mini-series running on Netflix.
But Marshall’s concerns are beyond a player just being driven away from the sport.
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The Tigers were exposed to the pain of suicide in 2013 when rising forward Mosese Fotuaika took his own life after a gym injury in pre-season when he was on the verge of making his NRL debut.
Marshall worried the pressure and scrutiny that comes with being an elite rugby league superstar can be a huge burden.
“These things can take their toll on a player’s mental health,” Marshall said.
“As long as his (Mitchell’s) mental health is okay, that’s all good.
“But sometimes we have to be careful with some of the players, with how far we do push them with their mental health.
“I’m not making any excuses for anything, but I can just see the pressure with what we do, and we have seen it in the past (with serious mental health issues).
“And I’m not saying from media stuff, but just the pressure of our jobs in general can push people to the edge.”
Mitchell’s pre-season move from arch-rivals the Sydney Roosters to Redfern, questions about his positional switch from centre to fullback and more recently his social-distancing indiscretions has the 22-year-old squarely in the headlines.
A report on Wednesday claiming he lagged behind his teammates on the first day back at training caused widespread condemnation from current and former players.
Marshall played under Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett when he was at the Brisbane Broncos in 2017 and believes the experienced mentor is exactly the person to help Mitchell navigate through these tough times.
“(Mitchell’s) a big-name player who gets more attention than others.
“I don’t like seeing it, I sort of feel like he is getting a lot of attention lately and a lot of it is probably negative.
“You need to surround yourself with good people and he’s got one of the best there in Wayne to help him get through that,” Marshall said.
Since Fotuaika’s death, the West Tigers club has been at the forefront of mental-health support and initiatives in the NRL and has been a Beyond Blue partner for five years.
“What I am impressed with is the amount of mental-health (work) the NRL are doing in making sure every day we fill out a survey where you talk about how you are feeling. Where you don’t have to say publicly — it’s all private — but if you need any help, there are avenues,” he said.
“As men, we don’t like to share those things, but we are just trying to make sure that every player has that option if they need it.”
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