Sacked podcast: Dayne Beams reveals full extent of crippling gambling and prescription drug addictions

Dayne Beams has a message for Collingwood supporters as his second stint as a Magpie officially comes to an end. The midfielder hopes Pies fans can understand why he returned and why it hasn’t worked out the way he’d hoped.

Dayne Beams of the Magpies in 2019

Collingwood star Dayne Beams says he has finally beaten crippling addictions to gambling and prescription medication after a deliberate car crash he described as a cry for help.

Beams, 30, is in the final stages of working through a settlement with Collingwood, as he prepares to sever his ties with the AFL football, despite having two more years to run on his contract.

He admits his return to Collingwood was an attempt to fall back in love with football as the flame died out.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL STORY OF BEAMS’ ROAD TO RECOVERY

The 30-year-old told the Herald Sun’s Sacked podcast a second stint in a rehab facility as he battled depression in February finally allowed him to break his prescription drug habit.

And he has not gambled for 16 months, thankful he was able to save his family home despite the dramatic toll his addiction caused.

Beams’ mental health spiral started when his father passed away in February 2018, resulting in what he describes as a “complete breakdown”.

To numb the pain he began resorting to drugs and gambling, but has come out the other side determined to use his story to inspire people who are facing similar issues.

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Dayne Beams with wife Kelly and kids Ruby and Carter. Picture: Supplied

“I struggled with two things, gambling and the prescription painkillers,” he told Sacked.

“It ends up controlling your life, it really does and then as a result of that, your mental health deteriorates.

“Once you stop you have got a whole lot of work to do to get yourself back on track. The hardest thing to break was the actual prescription drugs.

“They actually cause a change in your brain, the chemistry in your brain.”

Beams’ father Philip passed away in February 2018 and it rocked Beams world as the Brisbane captain broke down before what was to be his 150th AFL game in Round 3 against Port Adelaide.

He missed that Adelaide Oval clash and returned to Brisbane for a psychiatric evaluation but says his problems with gambling and painkiller abuse kicked into overdrive.

“We got back and put in a bit of a plan about what was going to happen but to be honest whatever plan they put in place was not going to work,” he said.

READ THE FULL STORY OF BEAMS’ ROAD TO RECOVERY THIS AFTERNOON

“Because that’s when I started engaging in some really addictive behaviours to try to deal with the pain I was feeling.

“That’s when things started to go really downhill. At that stage I was caught up in some stupid things and wasn’t actually feeling anything.”

“I thought this is great, this is helping me, but it wasn’t. It was the worst thing I would have done because it caused a lot of pain.

Two years later I feel like I could have handed things a lot differently.”

Beams says he hopes Collingwood supporters understand why he returned despite playing only nine game.

The Magpies effectively gave up two first round picks to Brisbane in order to get the midfielder back for a second stint at the club in late 2018.

Beams has conceded he still feels for Magpie supporters who feel aggrieved by the fact he was unable to play out his contract.

Dayne surrounded by some of his works art at his Health of Mind Art studio. Picture: David Caird

“It was quite stressful because I had signed a contract at Collingwood for four years and it was never my intention to retire this early,” Beams told the Herald Sun.

“You are battling with that sort of thing … you are battling with the guilt of not being able to perform and not really wanting to, as opposed to what was best for my health. We went back and forward for a bit and my mental health wasn’t great because of that.

“I had to do what made me happy and that’s what I have done.”

The 2010 premiership player had left Collingwood at the end of 2014 in order to be closer to his father, Philip, after he was diagnosed with cancer.

But the death of his father in early 2018 left Beams struggling for motivation at the Lions and feeling disconnected from the game.

He thought a return to Collingwood would restore his love of football, but returning to one of the AFL’s most high profile clubs countered against him.

Dayne Beams with his daughters Ruby. Picture: Supplied

“I started losing passion for footy pretty much when dad died,” he said. “It really started to fizzle out in me and the main reason to come back to Victoria was to find that again … to come back to the club where I first started, a big footy state, and to just try and reignite that flame and my love for footy again.”

“But it just didn’t work out that way.

“For me, it no longer became a love and everything became very, very hard to do – going to training, getting up to play in games, things started to become chores.

“I had had enough. It was burning me out and I pretty much made the decision to step away indefinitely.”

Playing and training proved counter-productive to his mental welfare, something the Magpies realised as well, giving him some time away from the game.

“It (football) brought me so much joy for 10 years and I loved it,” he said.

Southport Sharks QAFL team member Dayne Beams pictured at the Coolangatta Airport with his Parents Phillip Beams and Sharene Christie

“But footy … became more of a hindrance on my health. It was doing more harm than good.

“I just couldn’t give as much as I needed to in order to compete at that top level.

“It’s hard as there are people out there who are working jobs they don’t love and it affects them. I no longer enjoyed (playing football).

“A lot of that related to my dad. Footy was something I did with my dad … (but) when dad was crook and when he died, it dawned on me that this was the way I felt about footy now.”

The club and I have spoken at length about the situation and what is going on and we are both extremely comfortable where it sits now and there are going to be people who are going to be upset by it.

“Some people will be upset over spilt milk, they will be cranky no matter what. But as long as I know what has transpired and why and the footy club are OK with that, that’s really that’s all that matters. I will walk back into that club and know I won a best and fairest, premiership there.

“I have some great footy memories there. Part of me will always be a Collingwood player, I will always thank the footy club for what they have done for me.”