I logged into my social media last night when I got home from work to learn of Travis Cloke’s retirement from AFL.
Checking social media while I eat dinner has become part of my standard routine. On Facebook, I saw the news of Cloke hanging up the boots, and despite being a Demons’ supporter, I found it sad to hear of a great football player of the modern era retiring.
I then scrolled down a little more, and the next post said: “Travis Cloke used to sit in front of the computer and cry. Hahaha. What a weak guy.” The anger that ran through my veins. Laughing about mental illnesses to AFL players? It is no joke! Then I suddenly went to Microsoft Word and decided to take my anger out in an article.
It seems that year by year, depression among AFL players is growing. Travis Cloke, Alex Fasolo, and Tom Boyd all suffered from it this year and most of them also had it last year. Who can blame them, given the constant pressure from the media and the way that fans are writing about them online?
Just because these men are playing professional sports, it doesn’t mean that they don’t have real feelings. Everyone has feelings, and footballers have the right to being able to live a free life.
Just because these men play the sport we all love and have a passion for, the media shouldn’t be placing players under pressure throughout the year. Likewise, the fans shouldn’t be treating them as if they are allowed to do no wrong.
AFL players deserve the right to go through their career without being speculated about every ten minutes. They have the right to live a normal life without reading fans’ disgraceful comments about them.
Mental illness is the leading cause of suicide globally, and the trend of players that are diagnosed with depression is going up by year.
Fasolo, Cloke, and Boyd may have been open about their battle with depression, but they might well just be three of a handful of people what are suffering from it right now.
People often say, ‘If you don’t like the comments about yourself from others, then don’t use social media’. But first of all, there may be some close friends or family from overseas who can only be contacted via social media. I find that that I have multiple friends that prefer to stay in contact over social media, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat.
Secondly, players shouldn’t have to worry about seeing negative comments from the media or outraged fans abusing them online. It is that simple. If you don’t have something nice to say, or type, like these keyboard warriors, then don’t say it at all.
Something needs to be done to stop this. On behalf of AFL players, I feel we need to be stronger in tackling this issue.
Australian readers seeking support and information about depression can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.
Oingo Boingo
Guest
I would go as far as to suggest that , some footballers aren't actually humans.
bigbaz
Roar Guru
Just an observation but it seems to me that rugby and AJL fans get much more personal in their criticism than Leagueys.
Rich_daddy
Roar Guru
Unless you want to censor the internet, I am afraid criticism on social media is here to stay. This is not a situation isolated to footballers, celebrities and politicians cope of plenty of insults and worse. The fact there are a lot of angry people in the world and with the anonymity of social media and group 'pile on' they feel comfortable hurling abuse. Another point I would make is alot of the criticism players receive can be considered general banter and some can be genuinely quite funny (e.g. memes and gifs ) and are not vindictive in nature. The reality is footballers are highly paid figures in the public spotlight and have to deal with criticism, some of which will be harsh and unfair. The focus needs to be on better equipping players to better deal with the inevitable criticism they are going to face throughout their playing career.
Peter the Scribe
Guest
Sanderson and Scotland went to shocking teams and were just battlers. Sav couldn’t fit into a forward line with his brother so Mick told him to retire.
Daz
Roar Pro
Of course actual issue is that mental illness is not just "feeling sad" because someone said something bad about you. Mental illnesses like depression are medical conditions. The negativity in the media doesn't cause depression, but it certainly aggravates any symptoms. We still have a long way to go before mental illness is treated the way it should be in society, let alone in the bubble of the most high profile sport in the country.
Pete
Guest
Heath Scotland...
Pete
Guest
Mal Michael, Brenton Sanderson, Sav Rocca....
Pete
Guest
Um Heath Shaw, Rhyce Shaw...that took me less than 2 seconds I’m sure there’s a few more
Peter the Scribe
Guest
Totally agree Chris. A premiership champion of our club and the only other player besides Williams of course who kicked on was Heath Shaw. Even with Beams the club were desperate to keep him and he has been largely injured since. Just watch all the pies haters in here squirm next year when Bucks pies hit top four
FLOSSY
Roar Rookie
Just don't look at social media and it can't hurt you, simple. No wonder people have problems anyone reading bad things about themselves would get miserable.
aw
Guest
The problem most of these guys face is that they were popular kids at high school who were looked up to and idolised due to their sporting prowess. We tend to have endless admiration for athletes in our society, and each one of these would have been a stand out at junior level. Hence they've probably never copped much of a hard time socially in their life. They're used to the good treatment so haven't developed a strategy for when their feelings get hurt by someone else. Kids who were less popular would probably handle the scrutiny better as they would have had to handle it at a local level. It's tough.
Chris
Guest
Travis Cloke played some wonderful football for Collingwood and we still remember how he used to drive the ball home from 50 odd metres out. He was a little inaccurate from close in but I think we all love him and will cherish his presence around the club always. Just one final comment for all the Collingwood-haters out there. Our club has good judges when it comes to football talent and if the list managers think someone is cooked they tend to be spot on. I can't ever recall a Collingwood star having prospered at another club save and except for Paul Williams.
Kevo
Roar Rookie
Cat, what they do is cowardly and/or stupid/ignorant - I was suggesting calling them out for what they were are doing not “calling them names” that is not hypocritical. Ignoring them does not seem to make them go away as they seem to feed off each other but if every time we saw one of their cowardly comments we reported the comment maybe it might have some impact eventually. How do you see they should be responded to or are you happy with these people?
Paul D
Roar Guru
The level of unintentional irony in this post is truly hilarious
Peter the Scribe
Guest
The difference seems to allude your capacity to understand Cat. AFL players play AFL, gutter journalists feast on AFL player carcasses like the Vultures they are. If they don’t know something, like Mark Robinson with the Collingwood drug story, they make it up, that deserves to be called out, missing a goal doesn’t.
Cat
Roar Guru
So your response to call them names and be just like them. Hypocrite much?
Kevo
Roar Rookie
Agree with you 100% Conor but sadly it is the way our world operates now. You even see it in the responses on Roar - there are a lot of keyboard cowards out there who hide behind their keyboard anonymity but who in real life would literally s*** themselves if confronted by the person they are abusing. The test is if you would not say something to someone face to face then don’t say it on social media - people who do should be called out for the cowards they are. I don’t see the Instagrams, Twitters or Facebooks of this world really trying to manage the problem - they have too much to lose and it’s too hard. It’s up to other users to call out these cowards though even that comes with the risk of you ending up as the abused. Unfortunately a lot of these people are either too stupid to realise or don’t care that their comments can really hurt someone - as for Clokey it takes a real man and a lot of bravery to admit what he has been going through but hopefully it makes someone else suffering feel a little less alone. Good on you Travis and congratulations on the career that these keyboard cowards can never dream of....
Peter the Scribe
Guest
Conor we can start by taking away Mark “click bait” Robinson’s accreditation. He is one of the worst gutter journalists around and they all feed off player issues. They are vultures.