THEY may have been brought there thinking it was a training night, or a club meeting, but when Walgett footy players left the RSL, they were changed.
As part of the Act-Belong-Commit Community Wellbeing project, a joint program between the Rural Adversity Mental Health Program Centre (RAMHP) and the Department of Sport and Recreation, former NRL player and Black Dog Institute speaker Wayne Wigham visited town to down to talk to the teams about mental health.
The program was rolled out across the area that takes in the Barwon-Darling Rugby League competition.
Run in three stages, it started pre-season April or May with a community gathering, followed by an education season and finally a community festival held from June to just last week.
RAMHP rural health coordinator Camilla Kenny has attended the community festivals.
She said she had been encouraged by the response at the education sessions.
"We had to do a second night because there was so much demand in Walgett," Ms Kenny said.
"It's been really beneficial having this project in three phases.
"Talking to a community about mental health can be a difficult topic to broach in any community, as it's not something people want to freely talk about.
"But approaching it from the wellbeing perspective and talking to people about how they can stay mentally healthy or know when somebody is struggling with their mental health is a good way to start the discussion."
As well as RAMHP and the department, Far West NSW Medicare Local, Far West Local Health District, Mission Australia, the Black Dog Institute, the Department of Primary Industries and the Murdi Paaki Regional Assembly, were involved in the partnership with support from the National Rugby League.
Daniel Swan is an NRL development officer based in Dubbo.
He was involved in helping with the Act-Belong-Commit program and was aware of how challenging it could be to get community members to open up about mental health.
"People don't always engage or come over but we've found the kids will come and speak to us and that often helps," he said.
"We are trying to target men, so football really is the best way to approach them."
Daniel said before taking part in the project, his
understanding of mental health issues was limited but he did one of the men's health checks that the service offers at events and it was a good eye-opener for him.
"There are some confronting things people of my age have to go through," he said.
"It's confronting but important and it made me aware that it doesn't matter how old you or, where you live, or what walk of life you come from, staying mentally healthy is important.
"I'm much more aware when talking to people and mates - not that you look for it - but you are able to see signs if something is not quite right."
It's not yet clear whether funding for the program will continue next year, but the feedback indicated there would be significant demand for it to continue.
Jenna Cairney
Deputy editor of The Land.
Deputy editor of The Land.
