As the football fraternity descend on Adelaide for Gather Round…a festival of footy, the AFL industry today hosted the inaugural Mental Health and Wellbeing Gathering. 

Held at Adelaide University and hosted by the AFL, in partnership with Danny Frawley Community, part of Black Dog Institute, the Gathering brought together sporting leaders from all 18 clubs, government, mental health experts, researchers and lived‑experience voices and members of the community on the important role that football plays in building community connection and positively impacting the mental fitness of Australians. 

The Gathering included a panel discussion with past and present AFL and AFLW players Erin Phillips OAM, Chad Wingard, Molly Eastman and Alex Pearce. 

The event was supported by key AFL leaders, with AFL CEO Andrew Dillon, AFL Head of Mental Health and Wellbeing, Dr Kate Hall and AFL Executives Tom Harley, Sarah Fair and Laura Kane in attendance, alongside South Australian Minister for Health and Wellbeing  Hon. Blair Boyer, Federal Member for Hunter and Special Envoy for Men's Health Dan Repacholi, and Associate Professor Clinton Schultz, Head of First Nations Strategy at Black Dog Institute. 

AFL Head of Mental Health and Wellbeing, Dr Kate Hall, said the global mental health crisis is one of the most urgent issues of our time and the AFL industry understands its unique opportunity to be part of national mental health prevention efforts to support Australians in building their mental fitness. 

"With football's place at the heart of Australian culture, we recognise the opportunity we have as an industry to have a meaningful, positive impact on the mental health and wellbeing of Australians," Dr Hall said. 

"The Gathering demonstrated the impact of our industry on mental health, that goes well beyond awareness raising. We are already a wide-reaching system for the implementation of evidence based mental health literacy, resilience and social emotional wellbeing programs – delivered in partnership with mental health organisations and the AFL, our Clubs and Associations – who know our communities best.  

"As a leader in the sports industry, we're proud to support organisations like Danny Frawley Community, part of Black Dog Institute, to combine the power of community sport with world leading mental health research to help more Australians build mental fitness." 

AFL CEO Andrew Dillon said the league was proud to come together with the broader football industry for an important cause. 

"We're extremely proud of today's inaugural Mental Health Gathering," Dillon said. 

"The AFL has long been part of the national conversation about mental health, and the coming together of so many across the AFL industry demonstrates how we contribute to building mentally fit communities. Not by waiting for problems to escalate, but by embedding wellbeing into the everyday fabric of the culture of our Game. Football cannot do this alone—but it must be part of the solution." 

Speaking on the panel at the Gathering, Fremantle captain Alex Pearce reflected on how his approach to his own wellbeing has evolved from when he first moved to Perth from a small town in Tasmanian as an 18-year-old draftee in 2013. 

"As many young athletes are, I was fully immersed in football and it was everything to me, trying to make my teammates and family proud," Pearce said. 

"I had a few challenges early in my career with major injuries and a lot of time on the sidelines and I really struggled through the periods where my football wasn't going so well. 

"The greatest thing I learnt from that period of my life was the importance of finding balance and being grounded and comfortable with myself as a person, regardless of how I am performing on field. 

"I think the AFL industry has come a long way in how we recognise mental health…my role models when I came to Fremantle 13 years ago were the experienced players who had meaningful lives outside of footy, whether it was taking pride in their study or their family and relationships and I started to see that football wasn't everything. 

"As a leader of our club now, I try to ensure my teammates feel valued in who they are as a person and encourage them to be themselves. I think that's a positive place that our industry has come to, because it can be very easy to get caught up in your identity only being related to how well you play, and now there is a deeper understanding of how being the best version of yourself helps you become the best athlete you can be." 

Three-time AFLW premiership player and Gold Coast SUNS General Manager AFLW, Erin Phillips reflected on what playing sport throughout her life has taught her about mental fitness. 

"For me, football was an avenue for connection. I was a young girl who loved the game, it was my happy place, and it was so important to have that connection through footy as I was growing up. 

"I recently watched my daughter find connection through her new footy club, the Burleigh Bombers, after we moved from Adelaide to the Gold Coast. Experiencing that as a parent reinforces what I experienced myself as a player, that this is what football and connection is all about. 

"My message to the community, whether it be elite teams, junior teams or just people I meet in the street, is that you need to treat your mental health like you would treat a 2km time trial. 

"You need to acknowledge it and put the time and effort into it the same way that you do for your training, because it's just as important, if not more important. 

"We as a society tend to leave it behind and only pay attention when it gets bad, but it needs to be at the forefront of everything that we do." 

Federal Member for Hunter and Special Envoy for Men's Health, Dan Repacholi addressed the Gathering, 

"Sport has a unique ability to bring people together and that connection can be a powerful force for better mental health. This partnership is about using that reach to create real and lasting change in communities." 

"We know too many men in Australia are struggling in silence and that has to change. Initiatives like this help break down stigma and make it normal to talk about mental health in everyday settings like local sporting clubs."   

"Danny Frawley's legacy is about honesty, courage and community. Through this next chapter we can reach more people where they already feel connected and supported and help build stronger and more mentally fit communities."