Hymel Hunt: ‘I don’t want someone to take their life because of rugby league’

When Newcastle Knights centre Hymel Hunt broke down in tears after a recent game, not many in the crowd suspected the real reason why. The NRL star opens up about the biggest thing pushing players to the mental brink.

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When Newcastle Knights centre Hymel Hunt broke down in tears after the team’s loss to the Melbourne Storm on the Sunshine Coast this month – not many in the crowd watching suspected the real reason why.

The 26-year-old was standing just ten metres away from his parents but could not hug them despite being the closest he had been to his family in six months.

With the second wave of COVID-19 cementing its grip on Australia – NRL players are cocooned in “safety bubbles” that limit them from getting support by meeting their families.

‘It’s a cruel world when you think you’re alone’ says Hymel Hunt.

And the young star predicts social media trolling, the rollercoaster ride of professional sport, and isolation from friends and family could give rise to a mental health storm in the aftermath of COVID-19 with already struggling players emotionally pushed to the brink.

“It’s sad because I don’t want for it to come to a case where someone takes their own life because of the stress of rugby league, or stress of external sources or media,” he told The Daily Telegraph.

“There are some individuals out there who are very quick to comment and put someone down.There is a person behind (the player). We always get painted as a stereotype.”

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Elite rugby league players have much higher rates of anxiety and alcohol misuse than the general population and other athletes, a 2017 study from the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport found.

Hunt has seen the dark side of mental health all too well – losing his young cousin to suicide shortly after moving to Sydney to join the Newcastle Knights.

“We did lose our cousin too soon and it was really devastating. It’s such a sad thing seeing someone taken so badly and being so mentally sick that they think it’s the only option. That’s why I’m trying to use my platform as best as I can to help prevent as much suicide as I can,” he said.

Hymel Hunt is mobbed by teammates. Picture: Ashley Feder/Getty Images

“I come from a very close family. We played in Queensland on the Sunshine Coast and my family lives in Brisbane and they all came and watched but after the game I was crying because my mum and dad were at the field and I couldn’t hug and see them,” he said.

“I hadn’t seen my parents since round one. That was tough not being able to just give them a hug and I’m standing just 10m away and that was really hard. And that’s just one of the things people don’t know that we have to do for the game to go on.”

As a community advocate for the NRL’s mental health awareness program, Hunt is concerned about the impact of isolation on players.

“It gets me worried because it is a very stressful time. Especially if you’re not playing good footy or your team’s not winning, and you don’t have the security blanket of seeing your family,” he said.

“Things can eat you up inside’, says the 26-year-old.

Newcastle Knights twins Daniel and Jacob Saifiti with their mum Beverly and sister.

“Coming to the back end of the season we still have six, seven weeks plus finals. That’s another month or two months we won’t get to see our family. I do worry about some people in some teams.

“The Saifiti boys, Daniel Saifiti and Jacob Saifiti, their mum’s birthday was a few weeks ago and they asked to go see her and the NRL said no and they are very family orientated as well.”

Hunt has been encouraging younger players to balance their career demands and mental health by minimising their exposure to social media plus something that few outsiders would expect rugged football players to partake in – meditation.

“Adam O’Brien has brought in great welfare managers and a lot of meditation training. Some people might think those things are ridiculous but it’s amazing.

Hunt has been encouraging younger players to balance their career demands.

“The majority of the clubs are heading towards a lot of meditation and a lot of headspace training. You play a lot better with a clear mind than a mind that’s very stressed and worried.”

But while things are changing, Hunt finds the biggest barrier to mental health and players is an attitude of denial which can even prompt some to turn to substance abuse and partying.

“We need to change the attitude of she’ll be right. I could see people heading into that direction (of drugs and alcohol), but that’s where you family, friends and teammates step in,” he said.

“You have to find a way (to overcome it) because if you don’t all these things eat you up inside. It’s a cruel world when you think you’re alone.”

Originally published as Hymel Hunt: ‘I don’t want someone to take their life because of rugby league’