AFL 2019 | Collingwood Magpies coach Nathan Buckley praises Dayne Beams’ honesty

Collingwood Magpies star Dayne Beams has taken to social media to share his mental health battle — and the AFL is in his corner.

Dayne Beams was enjoying his time back at Collingwood.

Collingwood Magpies coach Nathan Buckley has praised the strength and honesty shown by star Dayne Beams, who yesterday stepped away from the AFL to focus on his mental health.

The Magpies star ended a four-year absence from the club during the off-season, ending his time at the Brisbane Lions to return to the club he started his career.

A hip injury looked to have ended the 29-year-old’s season with the long term injury ruling Beams out for three months.

He admitted to SEN at the time it has been an injury which has plagued him throughout his teenage years and requires surgery.

But a far more insidious issue has seen Beams step away from the game in order to deal with his mental health.

He told the Magpies website yesterday he plans to return to the game once his gets his head right.

“I have been on the record in the past about the battles I have fought. Right now, I need to step away and regather myself,” Beams said.

“I hope people will understand that this is something I need to do for myself and, importantly, my family. Our wellbeing is the highest priority.”

Beams also took to Instagram to post a heartbreaking message as he continues to battle his demons.

“I am a broken man at the moment and this is very very real for myself and the people that I love at the moment,” he wrote.

“I am not posting this for people to feel sorry for me or to speculate about my life, I am posting this because this is an issue that I will continue to shine a light on because it is real and it can be so so debilitating if it’s not treated so I plead with anyone out there doing it tough just to tell someone because in doing that you are already taking the first steps towards recovery and living a happier and loving life.”

Beams has reportedly struggled with the death of his father, who lost his battle with cancer in March last year. He originally moved to Brisbane to be closer to his ailing father before his death.

Beams said the move to Collingwood “one of the only things this year that made sense”.

It’s an important message and stars across the league have praised Beams for his openness.

Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley has backed AFL star Dayne Beams’s decision to step away from football to focus on his mental health, calling mental illness “a societal issue”.

“Dayne is a fairly open person and I think he has been challenged by circumstances in the last couple of years in particular and it could have been longer than that, who knows,” Buckley said. “I think we all feel broken at some points in our life but I suppose we don’t always tell the world when that is.

“If you are struggling in yourself, having the honesty and openness to admit and acknowledge that is the first step towards finding your way back.

“None of us are perfect people, we all have challenges, we all try to put on a brave front in some shape or form but when you’re a public figure it can add to that pressure and I’m sure Beamsy has felt that.”

Nathan Buckley has backed his star.

Collingwood teammate Darcy Moore also praised Beams for opening up on his mental health battle.

“For him to be able to be so open about it, about such a serious issue and something that is clearly one of the biggest issues in the game, it speaks volumes to his character,” Moore said on Fox Footy’s On The Mark last night.

Melbourne Demons coach Simon Goodwin said Beams’ decision show hopefully further shine the light on a dark issue affecting the AFL.

“I think what Dayne Beams has done is incredibly brave,” he said. “The scrutiny on our game is enormous and it provides a lot of stress on our players and staff.”

Hawthorn president and former chair of Beyond Blue Jeff Kennett told 3AW it was a “great sign” Beams could speak about his mental health.

“On one hand, I sympathised with him because of what he’s going through,” Kennett. “But on the other hand, I was pleased he felt he could speak publicly. The first step to recovery from a mental illness is admitting you’ve got an issue.”

The AFL community has shown it’s behind Beams.

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A disgusting social media message from an internet troll last week also sparked Beams, hitting back “why should players just have to put up with this s***”.

Retired Western Bulldogs star Tom Boyd labelled social media trolls as “disgraceful”, latching on to a tweet from former Bulldogs teammate Billy Gowers, who retired from the game in May, citing the mental toll of the game.

The tweet shared a screenshot of comments from the Fox Footy tweet reporting Beams’ decision.

Disgraceful.

— Tom Boyd (@Tom_Boyd17) July 3, 2019

There were also plenty of messages of support for the star.

With 82 men a day in Australia attempting suicide or considering it we should all be lauding the courage of Dayne Beams. Anyone shaming him is part of the problem in sending a toxic message to men that we should suffer & die at our own hands in silence. Ask for help, it’s there.

— Kon Karapanagiotidis (@Kon__K) July 3, 2019

I just can't understand why people would attack Dayne Beams or joke about why he might have stepped away from football. Mental health is such a big issue and it's scary some can take it so lightly. Please think before you reply to others - whether they're famous or not.

— Tim Michell (@tim_michell) July 3, 2019

Beams is the latest AFL player this season to take leave from the game to deal with mental health issues — following Western Bulldogs’ Lin Jong, St Kilda’s Jack Steven, Port Adelaide’s Matthew Broadbent and the Dogs’ premiership star Tom Boyd.

If you need help with depression, please see Beyond Blue for a list of organisations that can help.If you or someone you know needs help, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.