Former AFL coach Terry Wallace has called for an investigation into the issues faced by under-pressure footy mentors, in the wake of the Dean Laidley scandal.
Ex-North Melbourne player and coach Laidley has been charged by police with stalking after being arrested on Sunday night. Adding a salacious angle to the story were leaked pictures showing Laidley in a dress and wearing a long blonde wig.
A raft of former teammates have expressed concern for Laidley's well-being. Wallace pointed out that a string of head coaches had suffered misfortunes in recent years - some of them tragic.
https://twitter.com/thelistmanager/status/1257249580774600706?s=20Wallace specified that he meant Laidley, former Geelong and Essendon coach Mark Thompson, former Bombers coach James Hird, late former Richmond coach Danny Frawley and late former Adelaide coach Phil Walsh.
Thompson last year faced a drug trafficking charge, which was dismissed, and admitted to using ice.
Hird revealed in 2017 that he had overdosed on sleeping pills while suffering clinical depression, for which he spent five weeks in a mental health facility.
Frawley, who also suffered mental illness, died last year in a single-car crash the day after his 56th birthday.
Walsh died at age 55 in 2015, stabbed to death by his son Cy; who a court determined was suffering from undiagnosed and untreated schizophrenia at the time.
"I'm honestly concerned why this is happening," Wallace said on Twitter, in a thread of replies to followers.
"Five [coaches] in 10 years with either a breakdown of family life or major mental health issues which has led to an escalation of other issues.
"That [widespread mental illness] certainly is happening in society but why are the major issues higher for 18 coaches, who are more mature than 700 players[?]
"What I'm asking is has the pressure of their positions contributed to poor decisions?"
Wallace's call echoed that of Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes, who urged action from the AFL and AFL Coaches' Association. He said that the pressure on coaches would only become more acute, with football departments predicted to be slashed thanks to financial shortfalls at clubs inflicted by the coronavirus shutdown.
Laidley was coach of North Melbourne from 2003 until his 2009 resignation. It was his only head coaching role and followed a playing career in which he was a foundation player at West Coast and a premiership player for the Kangaroos.
His Perth-based mother, Carmel Friberg, said that she was stunned her son was facing police charges.
"I asked him to come over for a couple of weeks to have a bit of a break but he didn't have any leave left," she told the West Australian.
"He was his very normal self at Christmas.
"I'm just absolutely devastated because it's just not him, it's not him at all."
from WWOS http://wwos.nine.com.au/afl/dean-laidley-terry-wallace-mental-health-thompson-hird-frawley-walsh/13d21d26-f010-4003-85a5-db96283803ea
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