'Really felt the struggle': Swans star returns to roots to help promote mental health
The Sydney Swans star returned to where it all started on Wednesday afternoon with an important message about mental health, which resonated with the Cardiff Hawks after the club was left heartbroken last year.
The Hawks' first-grade men's coach, Danny Priest, died by suicide in October.
The tragedy came a month after the Hawks made the men's first-grade grand final for the first time since 2017.
It shattered the tight-knit club.
"Towards the end of our season last year, we lost someone in our club to suicide, someone who was incredibly important to us, and we really felt the impacts of that and really felt the struggle," Cardiff Hawks president Georgia Smith said.
"So this year, we have put a really strong focus on supporting our club members in returning to a season without a key member of our club.
"We started that at the beginning of the year with some mental health awareness, and through that we identified that there was quite a bit of a gap in our mental health literacy.
"We decided that mental health first aid was something that we wanted to do as a club and we wanted to be able to support our mates when they expressed they were going through some mental health troubles or challenges, and we really wanted to equip our club members with the best tools possible to support them and connect them with the right people to provide the right support."
The club were successful in applying for a Telstra Footy Country Grant to fund a two-day intensive mental health first aid training course for senior members of the club.
It was the first time a club had applied to use the grant towards mental health training.
In addition to the grant, Telstra organised for Lifeline's deputy chief researcher Dr Tara Hunt and Heeney to speak to the club about the importance of taking care of mental health as part of an introduction to mental health first aid session on Wednesday night.
Earlier in the afternoon, Heeney mixed with junior Hawks on the footy field in Cameron Park.
"Obviously, it's a pretty tough situation over the last year for the Hawks here, my local footy club that I grew up playing with," Heeney, who is a Telstra ambassador, told the Newcastle Herald on Wednesday.
"They reached out to Telstra and Telstra are obviously running a footy country grant and the application the Cardiff Hawks put in was a different one to normal that other clubs have put in, so it was a first of its kind.
"Being my local footy club, it was a really important one to me, being a mental health first aid training application, so it was really nice to be able to come here and, rather than just give them the grant, to make a day out of it and give back to not just the seniors but the whole club.
"It's an important one. It's such a complex one at the same time, but it's something special to my heart, being my local footy club and what they've been through over the last year."
Telstra consumer executive Tom Beach said the Hawks' grant request was unique.
"In our partnership with the AFL, we have supported hundreds of clubs but we've never seen a request like this before, so we knew we had to help," Beach said.
"We hope that in bringing Isaac back to the Cardiff Hawks, and in partnering with Lifeline to provide them the right education, we can help them at this tough time, and can hopefully help local footy clubs to place emphasis on their mental health as at the professional level.
"We hope to encourage young budding talents to feel safe to speak about their mental health to shift the stigma for future generations."
Isaac Heeney's return to his junior club for the first time in three years was about more than getting back to his AFL roots.
The Sydney Swans star returned to where it all started on Wednesday afternoon with an important message about mental health, which resonated with the Cardiff Hawks after the club was left heartbroken last year.
The Hawks' first-grade men's coach, Danny Priest, died by suicide in October.
The tragedy came a month after the Hawks made the men's first-grade grand final for the first time since 2017.
It shattered the tight-knit club.
"Towards the end of our season last year, we lost someone in our club to suicide, someone who was incredibly important to us, and we really felt the impacts of that and really felt the struggle," Cardiff Hawks president Georgia Smith said.
"So this year, we have put a really strong focus on supporting our club members in returning to a season without a key member of our club.
"We started that at the beginning of the year with some mental health awareness, and through that we identified that there was quite a bit of a gap in our mental health literacy.
"We decided that mental health first aid was something that we wanted to do as a club and we wanted to be able to support our mates when they expressed they were going through some mental health troubles or challenges, and we really wanted to equip our club members with the best tools possible to support them and connect them with the right people to provide the right support."
The club were successful in applying for a Telstra Footy Country Grant to fund a two-day intensive mental health first aid training course for senior members of the club.
It was the first time a club had applied to use the grant towards mental health training.
In addition to the grant, Telstra organised for Lifeline's deputy chief researcher Dr Tara Hunt and Heeney to speak to the club about the importance of taking care of mental health as part of an introduction to mental health first aid session on Wednesday night.
Earlier in the afternoon, Heeney mixed with junior Hawks on the footy field in Cameron Park.
"Obviously, it's a pretty tough situation over the last year for the Hawks here, my local footy club that I grew up playing with," Heeney, who is a Telstra ambassador, told the Newcastle Herald on Wednesday.
"They reached out to Telstra and Telstra are obviously running a footy country grant and the application the Cardiff Hawks put in was a different one to normal that other clubs have put in, so it was a first of its kind.
"Being my local footy club, it was a really important one to me, being a mental health first aid training application, so it was really nice to be able to come here and, rather than just give them the grant, to make a day out of it and give back to not just the seniors but the whole club.
"It's an important one. It's such a complex one at the same time, but it's something special to my heart, being my local footy club and what they've been through over the last year."
Telstra consumer executive Tom Beach said the Hawks' grant request was unique.
"In our partnership with the AFL, we have supported hundreds of clubs but we've never seen a request like this before, so we knew we had to help," Beach said.
"We hope that in bringing Isaac back to the Cardiff Hawks, and in partnering with Lifeline to provide them the right education, we can help them at this tough time, and can hopefully help local footy clubs to place emphasis on their mental health as at the professional level.
"We hope to encourage young budding talents to feel safe to speak about their mental health to shift the stigma for future generations."
Isaac Heeney's return to his junior club for the first time in three years was about more than getting back to his AFL roots.
The Sydney Swans star returned to where it all started on Wednesday afternoon with an important message about mental health, which resonated with the Cardiff Hawks after the club was left heartbroken last year.
The Hawks' first-grade men's coach, Danny Priest, died by suicide in October.
The tragedy came a month after the Hawks made the men's first-grade grand final for the first time since 2017.
It shattered the tight-knit club.
"Towards the end of our season last year, we lost someone in our club to suicide, someone who was incredibly important to us, and we really felt the impacts of that and really felt the struggle," Cardiff Hawks president Georgia Smith said.
"So this year, we have put a really strong focus on supporting our club members in returning to a season without a key member of our club.
"We started that at the beginning of the year with some mental health awareness, and through that we identified that there was quite a bit of a gap in our mental health literacy.
"We decided that mental health first aid was something that we wanted to do as a club and we wanted to be able to support our mates when they expressed they were going through some mental health troubles or challenges, and we really wanted to equip our club members with the best tools possible to support them and connect them with the right people to provide the right support."
The club were successful in applying for a Telstra Footy Country Grant to fund a two-day intensive mental health first aid training course for senior members of the club.
It was the first time a club had applied to use the grant towards mental health training.
In addition to the grant, Telstra organised for Lifeline's deputy chief researcher Dr Tara Hunt and Heeney to speak to the club about the importance of taking care of mental health as part of an introduction to mental health first aid session on Wednesday night.
Earlier in the afternoon, Heeney mixed with junior Hawks on the footy field in Cameron Park.
"Obviously, it's a pretty tough situation over the last year for the Hawks here, my local footy club that I grew up playing with," Heeney, who is a Telstra ambassador, told the Newcastle Herald on Wednesday.
"They reached out to Telstra and Telstra are obviously running a footy country grant and the application the Cardiff Hawks put in was a different one to normal that other clubs have put in, so it was a first of its kind.
"Being my local footy club, it was a really important one to me, being a mental health first aid training application, so it was really nice to be able to come here and, rather than just give them the grant, to make a day out of it and give back to not just the seniors but the whole club.
"It's an important one. It's such a complex one at the same time, but it's something special to my heart, being my local footy club and what they've been through over the last year."
Telstra consumer executive Tom Beach said the Hawks' grant request was unique.
"In our partnership with the AFL, we have supported hundreds of clubs but we've never seen a request like this before, so we knew we had to help," Beach said.
"We hope that in bringing Isaac back to the Cardiff Hawks, and in partnering with Lifeline to provide them the right education, we can help them at this tough time, and can hopefully help local footy clubs to place emphasis on their mental health as at the professional level.
"We hope to encourage young budding talents to feel safe to speak about their mental health to shift the stigma for future generations."
Isaac Heeney's return to his junior club for the first time in three years was about more than getting back to his AFL roots.
The Sydney Swans star returned to where it all started on Wednesday afternoon with an important message about mental health, which resonated with the Cardiff Hawks after the club was left heartbroken last year.
The Hawks' first-grade men's coach, Danny Priest, died by suicide in October.
The tragedy came a month after the Hawks made the men's first-grade grand final for the first time since 2017.
It shattered the tight-knit club.
"Towards the end of our season last year, we lost someone in our club to suicide, someone who was incredibly important to us, and we really felt the impacts of that and really felt the struggle," Cardiff Hawks president Georgia Smith said.
"So this year, we have put a really strong focus on supporting our club members in returning to a season without a key member of our club.
"We started that at the beginning of the year with some mental health awareness, and through that we identified that there was quite a bit of a gap in our mental health literacy.
"We decided that mental health first aid was something that we wanted to do as a club and we wanted to be able to support our mates when they expressed they were going through some mental health troubles or challenges, and we really wanted to equip our club members with the best tools possible to support them and connect them with the right people to provide the right support."
The club were successful in applying for a Telstra Footy Country Grant to fund a two-day intensive mental health first aid training course for senior members of the club.
It was the first time a club had applied to use the grant towards mental health training.
In addition to the grant, Telstra organised for Lifeline's deputy chief researcher Dr Tara Hunt and Heeney to speak to the club about the importance of taking care of mental health as part of an introduction to mental health first aid session on Wednesday night.
Earlier in the afternoon, Heeney mixed with junior Hawks on the footy field in Cameron Park.
"Obviously, it's a pretty tough situation over the last year for the Hawks here, my local footy club that I grew up playing with," Heeney, who is a Telstra ambassador, told the Newcastle Herald on Wednesday.
"They reached out to Telstra and Telstra are obviously running a footy country grant and the application the Cardiff Hawks put in was a different one to normal that other clubs have put in, so it was a first of its kind.
"Being my local footy club, it was a really important one to me, being a mental health first aid training application, so it was really nice to be able to come here and, rather than just give them the grant, to make a day out of it and give back to not just the seniors but the whole club.
"It's an important one. It's such a complex one at the same time, but it's something special to my heart, being my local footy club and what they've been through over the last year."
Telstra consumer executive Tom Beach said the Hawks' grant request was unique.
"In our partnership with the AFL, we have supported hundreds of clubs but we've never seen a request like this before, so we knew we had to help," Beach said.
"We hope that in bringing Isaac back to the Cardiff Hawks, and in partnering with Lifeline to provide them the right education, we can help them at this tough time, and can hopefully help local footy clubs to place emphasis on their mental health as at the professional level.
"We hope to encourage young budding talents to feel safe to speak about their mental health to shift the stigma for future generations."
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Mitch Lewis kicked his first goal in more than a year in Hawthorn's hot start, helping them to a 25-0 lead before Corey Durdin got the Blues on the board. It was brief respite for Carlton, who trailed 6.1 to 1.2 at quarter-time and were 42 points in arrears early in the third term. Docherty briefly sparked Carlton late in the quarter, kicking one goal but missing the chance for another after he had caught James Sicily holding the ball. But the Blues never got close enough to threaten a boilover. Jack Gunston (three goals), Nick Watson, Dear and Lewis (two each) shared the load in attack for Hawthorn. Will Day made a successful return from a foot injury with 15 disposals on limited minutes, and hauled in a spectacular mark over Lachie Fogarty. Fellow Hawks midfielder Jai Newcombe was subbed out in the third term after nursing a tight calf into the match. Dylan Moore (27 touches), Jarman Impey (25) and Josh Ward (22) were all busy, with Sicily and Tom Barrass strong in defence. Weitering worked tirelessly for Carlton opposed to Gunston, while George Hewett (25 disposals) and Zac Williams (18 touches, seven clearances) battled hard. Amid intrigue around his playing future, Charlie Curnow kicked two goals from 10 disposals and McKay booted one late on return from a knee injury. Hawthorn's self-proclaimed "villains" have spoiled Sam Docherty's farewell party, cruising to a 24-point win as the Carlton hero waved an emotional MCG goodbye. Docherty kicked a goal and was given a touching send-off in front of 51,271 fans on Thursday night after announcing his retirement mid-week. But there was no fairytale ending to the two-time cancer survivor's remarkable career against the businesslike Hawks, who kicked eight of the first nine goals in their 13.7 (85) to 9.7 (61) victory. A sixth win from seven outings strengthened Hawthorn's grip on a top-eight spot and kept them firmly in top-four contention with a 13-6 record. "They were playing for a bit ... so we knew there would be a little bit of extra something about it and we were pleased we were able to respond early," Hawks coach Sam Mitchell said. "They wouldn't go away, unfortunately, but we did what we had to do. "We were cast in the role of the villain, so we embraced that." An inspirational figure, Docherty has twice beaten testicular cancer and endured three knee reconstructions, while winning a Carlton best-and-fairest award and All-Australian selection. The 31-year-old entered the field of play for his 184th and last game with his family, and had 16 disposals between a wing and half-forward. He was moved into attack after halftime and provided a highlight with a third-quarter goal, celebrating with a bow to the crowd. Docherty was also used as a stepladder by Hawks forward Calsher Dear, who took a mark-of-the-year contender on his opponent's shoulders. Blues coach Michael Voss conceded it was a disappointing result in Docherty's final appearance and vice-captain Jacob Weitering's 200th game. "We came in wanting to create a sort of pretty special memory off two players that we hold in the highest of regard," Voss said. "They've had huge impact on our football club ... so we would've liked to have started better. "The Hawks getting the jump and the scoreboard going that way, it just proved too hard to be able to fight back. "While the rest of the game was somewhat a stalemate, the reality was the margin was too big to drag back." Mitch Lewis kicked his first goal in more than a year in Hawthorn's hot start, helping them to a 25-0 lead before Corey Durdin got the Blues on the board. It was brief respite for Carlton, who trailed 6.1 to 1.2 at quarter-time and were 42 points in arrears early in the third term. Docherty briefly sparked Carlton late in the quarter, kicking one goal but missing the chance for another after he had caught James Sicily holding the ball. But the Blues never got close enough to threaten a boilover. Jack Gunston (three goals), Nick Watson, Dear and Lewis (two each) shared the load in attack for Hawthorn. Will Day made a successful return from a foot injury with 15 disposals on limited minutes, and hauled in a spectacular mark over Lachie Fogarty. Fellow Hawks midfielder Jai Newcombe was subbed out in the third term after nursing a tight calf into the match. Dylan Moore (27 touches), Jarman Impey (25) and Josh Ward (22) were all busy, with Sicily and Tom Barrass strong in defence. Weitering worked tirelessly for Carlton opposed to Gunston, while George Hewett (25 disposals) and Zac Williams (18 touches, seven clearances) battled hard. Amid intrigue around his playing future, Charlie Curnow kicked two goals from 10 disposals and McKay booted one late on return from a knee injury.
