{"id":614494,"date":"2026-04-18T06:08:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T06:08:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/614494\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T06:08:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T06:08:20","slug":"afl-star-calls-for-mental-health-round","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/614494\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL star calls for mental health round"},"content":{"rendered":"

The AFL<\/a> community, and in particular the Dawson family, have had a tragic week after the passing of Adelaide captain Jordan Dawson’s brother, Jaryd.<\/p>\n

The topic of mental health was then once again thrust to the forefront of conversation when Carlton’s Elijah Hollands<\/a> suffered from a medical episode during the Carlton-Collingwood clash at the MCG on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Speaking after Geelong’s victory over Western Bulldogs<\/a> on Friday night, Cats superstar Bailey Smith<\/a> said on Seven’s broadcast he hopes the AFL<\/a> includes a mental health round in future seasons.<\/p>\n

“There’s one thing I want to touch on, which is maybe out of pocket, but I just want to shout out the Dawson family this week and Elijah Hollands<\/a> last night,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I don’t know if I am out of pocket saying it, but it’s about time the AFL<\/a> get a men’s mental health round.<\/p>\n

“It just makes me feel sick during the week, and hopefully the AFL<\/a> community can wrap our arms around them and do something.<\/p>\n

“I think it’s just human nature to rally around. I think the footy world can be quite toxic at times. It is good at putting our arms around the people that need it most when we need to, I think we do both.<\/p>\n

“It’s just stuff we don’t like seeing. If there’s something I can leave everyone with, it’s just speak to your mates and put your arm around your loved ones, you never know who might need it.”<\/p>\n

Smith has consistently been a strong advocate for mental health and spoke in 2025 about how he had spent time in a psych ward and had battled his own issues with it.<\/p>\n

The topic of mental health, and in particular men’s mental health, has been a poignant one in recent years, both in the AFL<\/a> world and in broader society.<\/p>\n

According to Black Dog Institute, more than 3,200 Australians took their own life in 2022, with 75 per cent being male.<\/p>\n

Men’s mental health is also a pressing issue in the AFL<\/a> as the league looks to limit concussions, which can lead to decreased mental health, as much as it can.<\/p>\n

Every year, it seems a common tragic theme that former footballers pass away after battling with their mental health. Perhaps Smith’s calls for a designated round to raise awareness and encourage men to talk and open up to someone would be a step in the right direction.<\/p>\n

If you or anyone you know needs immediate support, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or via lifeline.org.au<\/a>. In an emergency, call 000.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The AFL community, and in particular the Dawson family, have had a tragic week after the passing of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":614495,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-614494","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-afl","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-australian-football-league","12":"tag-australianfootballleague","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=614494"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614494\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/614495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=614494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=614494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=614494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}