AFL boss Andrew Dillon responds to renewed calls for mental health round in wake of Adam Selwood's death

7NEWS

20-05-2025

AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon says the league's immediate focus is on helping players amid renewed calls for a mental health round.
The death of West Coast premiership player Adam Selwood last week, just three months after twin brother and fellow ex-AFL player Troy also died, has brought the issue back to the fore.
Former Eagles player Brayden Ainsworth, who was at the club during Adam's time as a coach and is now a mental health advocate, said a special round is a worthy cause if properly planned.
'But the thing with it is there might become funds, there might be ways you can then raise the money and then that can help and go back into community, services,' he told ABC radio.
'I think that's what the point of the mental health round is, it's not 'OK let's all put some different colours on our guernsey'.
'Let's raise some amazing funds, as much as we can, then put that back out into the community, and I think that's the way that the mental health round can really work to then fund services and advocacies.'
Ainsworth reasoned 'one round's not going to change everything' but said football — from the AFL down to Auskick — needs to promote positivity around asking for help.
He knows from experience that not acting on struggles can lead people down a difficult path.
Being delisted in 2022 proved challenging, to the extent that he was later admitted to hospital and 'it was looking like I wasn't going to make it out'.
'It was all to do (with) the physical and mental health from the delisting and the self-worth, but I guess the shame and the guilt of what I was going through. And football, getting delisted was just the tipping point,' he said.
'There was a lot of things going on through my childhood and then into football that I never talked about, which was all around body image issues, anorexia, and that's what I ended up in hospital for.'
His story has shone a spotlight on where the AFL community knows it can still improve.
The AFL Players' Association regularly publicises 'free and confidential wellbeing support nationwide to all current and past player members as well as their significant others'.
Ainsworth said it was a challenge for him to take up that offer.
'When you reach out and you ask for help, that's when it becomes real,' he said.
'And I think that's the scariest thing is because, OK, what I'm going through is actually a thing, it's not made up in my mind.
'These thoughts become true and that's when it can become a really hard thing to navigate.'
Asked about a mental health round, Dillon said the AFL's next move would prioritise supporting players to feel like they can seek help.
'Such a tragic circumstance and our heart just goes out to the Selwood family,' Dillon told 7NEWS Melbourne.
'Look, I think what we want to do is focus on making sure that all of our players — our current players, past players and future players — just have all the tools and the access to everything that they need to make sure they're OK.
'How that plays out, I think that's something we'll take advice on from the experts.'
Players from around the league have increasingly taken the message on board.
Fremantle's Jordan Clark concluded an interview on Channel 7's Sunday Footy Feast with a plea to fans.
'I just want to say if you ever are struggling make sure you check in on your mates or reach out to someone,' he said.
'We need to start having each other's backs.'
West Coast's Elijah Hewett is supportive of a mental health round but also praised the increased awareness to date.
'In the football world, it's just about reaching out and getting help when you need to,' he told The West Australian moments after the Eagles' emotional win on Sunday.
'We're no exception from society, we struggle as well, and it's important to ask for some help.'