AFL great Mick Malthouse has revealed Dean Laidley "was quite ill at one stage" and called on the AFL to offer more support services to coaches.
Malthouse, a former coach and and colleague of Laidley's, opened up about the ex-North Melbourne premiership player and mentor describing him as "very loyal" and how he had been in "immense pain" in recent years dealing with a variety of issues.
Laidley was arrested outside a home in St Kilda on Saturday night and will remain in custody until May 11 having been charged with stalking and other offences.
Photos of Laidley in custody were leaked showing him wearing a blonde wig and a black dress. A constable from Victoria Police has been suspended for disseminating images of the former coach's mug shot.
The Herald Sun reports Laidley's lawyer told Melbourne Magistrates' Court he was suffering from a mental illness after his arrest on the weekend.
Speaking to 3AW's Neil Mitchell, Malthouse said he wasn't aware of any psychiatric illness but highlighted the myriad of issues his former colleague had been battling. Coaching in the AFL would have taken its toll as well, according to the former Magpies coach.
"The pressure that he was under both physically, mentally, at home with one of his children and the fact he was trying to make ends meet and he had this disease, I wouldn't have thought that would have done the mind any good at all," Malthouse said.
"As it grabs hold of you, coaching, it's more relentless and it's more demanding. You've got to have a really good partner, good family and an understanding family otherwise you're trying to … please those at home, those at the football club, those in the media.
"You do get very isolated very quickly in coaching."
Malthouse admitted he lost touch with Laidley recently and his last "good conversation" with him was when the veteran mentor was sacked as Carlton coach in 2015.
He said Laidley was dealing with family issues and was "quite ill" for a period of time.
"I spoke to him on the phone a couple of times but then it just dried up. (I) Left messages, but there was nothing in return," Malthouse said.
"He was quite ill there at one stage. I don't know exactly what it was but he was in immense pain and I remember him saying that he was on these painkillers and it was quite debilitating.
"Of course he had issues with his son so he's been through a hell of a lot."
The incident involving Laidley has underlined the struggles some coaches have endured after they stop coaching AFL football.
Ex-Geelong mentor and Essendon assistant Mark Thompson found himself on the other side of the law last year, while Essendon icon James Hird, overdosed on sleeping pills in 2017 and spent time in a mental health facility for depression.
Malthouse says the AFL Coaches Association needs to be equipped with more resources to tackle the mental health side of things, considering the nature of the business.
"They (coaches) just absorb it, the family absorbs it and then something cracks, something gives way," Malthouse said.
"I can categorically tell you the number of coaches that I know who have come in and gone out of the game, and I look at them and they age very, very quickly. They become old men quickly."
from WWOS http://wwos.nine.com.au/afl/afl-mick-malthouse-reveals-pressure-dean-laidley-was-under/dfdda27b-1000-43e2-890a-0b5ddc299ffe
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