What the AFL can do to help mental health barriers 'get broken down'

Popular AFL video and content creator Will Taylor was just 10 years old when he lost his dad to suicide. The AFL has a partnership with Movember, "Ahead of the Game", which is a youth mental health program teaches players, parents, coaches, umpires and volunteers to understand mental health, build mental fitness and strengthen resilience. "Last year on our podcast 'The Ressies', we had Liam Stocker on and I knew of his story, and I knew he had mental health troubles as well, but sitting down with him and having a chat with him, I think he's one of the most interesting people to me," Taylor said. Former Western Bulldogs premiership player and number one draft pick Tom Boyd said a mental health round could be "one of the most consequential moves that the AFL could make" for the better of not only the football fraternity, but also the broader community that engages with it. First, to reinforce awareness and drive home the fact that things can still turn awry, even when your in positions of great fortune such as AFL players are in; drive social change in supporting a better and more comprehensively functioning mental health system; and partner with organisations who have the infrastructure to deliver change "The platform of the AFL is the biggest in the country and I think it would genuinely create at least meaningful ripples, and ideally over a couple of years, as we build this thing out, meaningful change," Boyd said.