North Melbourne legend Wayne Schwass takes AFL to task over mental health issues

Mick Stirling

North Melbourne legend Wayne Schwass takes AFL to task over mental health issues image

The reaction from the football world to an incident involving North Melbourne’s Majak Daw on Monday night has been fast and loud, with former Kangaroos great Wayne Schwass calling for the AFL to do more on mental health issues in the game.

Daw is believed to have broken a hip after falling from the Bolte Bridge and was found at the edge of the Yarra River. He is recovering in a stable condition in a Melbourne hospital.

While details are limited and the club has asked that the privacy of Daw, his family and teammates be respected, Schwass wasted no time in taking to social media to call out the AFL on its handling of mental health issues.

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“At what point will the AFL industry come together to begin to seriously address the issue of mental health,” Schwass tweeted.

“A very serious wake up call our industry needs to get serious.”


Schwass is the founder of Puka Up, a social enterprise ‘raising awareness about mental health, emotional wellbeing and suicide prevention’, something he has been a passionate advocate of after suffering his own issues through a long and successful football career.

Mental health and depression have become major concerns within the football industry and the AFL has made a commitment to spend $900,000 in 2019 ($50,000 to each club) to try and help combat them, but the number of players reporting issues continues to grow.

High profile cases such as Tom Boyd, Mitch Clarke and Lance Franklin are only the tip of the iceberg and Schwass believes the League should do more.

“Some clubs doing this better than others but we need a well designed framework, guidelines & processes that enables/ empowers all stakeholders to proactively deal with & manage mental health & wellbeing outcomes,” Schwass tweeted on Tuesday afternoon.

“Clubs should not be penalized or discouraged from investing into psychologists or psychiatrists for players, coaches and staff. In fact we should be encourage this type of investment.”


More to come

For 24/7 crisis support or suicide prevention services, please call 13 11 14. If life is in danger, call 000.

All other enquiries, please call the Lifeline National Office on 02 6215 9400 or the Lifeline Centre nearest to you.

Mick Stirling