You're the sheriff of this board Andy, but i'd have thrown this at them

Rugby league needs to get behind ex players and players etc in need of help. This is not football. We should be proud of our game and 'community spirit.'

I don't think it was meant that way, it's just a seriously brainless, out of touch view. Every village has one. Back on topic, I hope Long gets all the help he needs. It seems to be becoming a bigger issue all the time, particular amongst younger men

Problem in RL is the players dont make enough money in their careers to retire on. Prem Footballers can retire with millions in the bank and never work again, RL players are thrown to a job market they've no experience of and the change can be shocking, akin to soldiers leaving the army.
We need greater support structures in place for them. Where has mr Wilkin and Mr Peacocks great union been in all this?

I know what you mean, but all he's done is highlight the large number of people who have the "pull yourself together" attitude to these kind of things. Twitter and Faceache are full of grief/outrage junkies without us letting it being a banning offence on here.

I think it was brave of him to come out and speak about it really does take a lot of guts

The problem with longy is it's not just recent he's had demands so can't really use this has an excuse i get what he's saying about his playing career but he's had jobs at Salford,Wigan and London to grow as a coach and he's screwed everyone of them opportunitys up

You can't walk into a job like that and expect to be the top dog look at Wane he was with our youth for years and learned the trade there is a difference between playing and coaching i do think he could make a great coach someday but you have got to work for it and he needs to grow up and knock all the silly things he does on the head

I think we may underestimate the thrill and excitement a play gets from playing week in and week out. The adrenaline, the adulation of the fans, the impact, the competition, these are all things a player will no longer experience once retired.

So while it often can be be a bit like 'What now?!' it can also be a matter of 'I'm never, ever going to experience that thrill ever again' which can be a main contributor to depression.

yes i do, and thanks to the moderators who didnt follow the knee jerk reaction of many who disagreed with my point of view.

its been pointed out about the lateness of my post, and that it was perhaps alcohol induced? It wasnt, it was tiredness induced, a badly constructed rushed affair that failed to detail any reasons for my generalisation.

Depression (clinical depression) isnt something to be taken lightly, its very serious, and can affect a persons everyday life, and the lives of friends and family. A depressive generally loses interest in normal everyday things, work, family, social activities etc etc.
Unfortunately there are many many cases where people say they have depression when they dont. They have problems. In same cases its an excuse to stay in bed, laziness. They are "under the weather" not "depressed". Those were the kind of people i was referring to. People who use the word as an excuse to bury their head in the sand regarding lifes problems.

Has Sean Long been clinically diagnosed as having depression? or do we just have his word for it? and quite frankly, given his track record, i wouldnt believe much that he says.

During this period that he was "depressed" he got a job in coaching, enthusiastically pursued opening his town centre bar, and as far as i know, enjoyed life with his kids. I could be wrong, but that doesnt sound like a man with depression.

However, i'm not qualified to recognise whars depression and what isnt, and neither i suspect is anyone else on here.

Thats my take on the situation, and hope i have cleared up a few things. Many of you will probably still disagree with me, but thats life.

I wont be posting any further in this thread, and hope we can draw a line under it.

If ive offended anyone with my original post, i would like to apologise. Not for my point of view, but for the way it was badly put across, and if Im totally wrong with my assumptions that Mr Long doesnt have Clinical Depression, then i would like to apologise to him too, and wish him a speedy recovery.

I don't think you have done yourself any favours here. In fact, you've probably done more damage than you're original post.

What you're doing now is insinuating that he is making it all up and saying he has depression when in fact he hasn't. Unbelievable.

You are displaying an extreme lack of knowledge on this subject.

Trying to kill himself is a bit of a give away. Medical science isn't yet at a level where it can litmus test depression. This reminds me of when people didn't believe Garry Speed was depressed just because he seemed alright in an interview days before he comitted suicide.

Oh yeah i get that but he's been told it's over i know everyone is different but he should put that passion into bringing young talent on and he had the best place over here in us to do that

He may need more time to come to terms with it the ale and other things make it worse he needs to knock that on the head asap

Sadly the way depression often works is that someone with the condition can have long periods of relative normality with little or no sign (especially outwardly) of any issues and then the symptoms/issues suddenly strike and can be extremely bad - enough to drive the suffer to suicide (as in the case with Gary Speed or similarly Stuart Woolstenholme of the band Barclay James Harvest - if anyone has heard of them).

What our friend WPM seems to be doing is making the mistake, often made by people on this subject, of thinking a depressive needs to be depressed 'about something'. That shows a complete lack of understanding of clinical depression but is not an uncommon misunderstanding. As such I'd give him the benefit of the doubt here. For his sake (and the sake of anyone else unfamiliar with the condition) clinical depression is a chemical imbalance in the brain and can strike at any time and without warning. It is purely a symptom of the incorrect production of serotonin. Things can trigger it, of course, simply because the things that are happening in our lives also have an effect on the production of serotonin and, in Sean's case, the end of his playing career would certainly come into that category. However, to try to rationalise clinical depression by asking 'what has he to be depressed about' is as meaningless as asking 'what has he to have flu about'.

Hope this helps.

You do realise that having depression isn't as cut and dry as you think, right? So by your reasoning because he had a new job and was running a new bar, as well as spending time with his family, he couldn't possibly be depressed?

I would suggest, before making any further comments on depression, you go and actually research it, or possibly even speak to someone who has suffered from it.

As a diagnosed manic depressive, I can tell you, your comments are both narrow minded & offensive to anyone who has dealt with this terrible disease.

I've always thought that if I don't really know much about a subject then I won't really comment on it. Perhaps WPM should take a leaf out of my book in this instance.

I sincerely hope Longy can get all the help he needs.

I can personally vouch for this

Read what Phuzzy wrote....

'Tried to kill himself'??

Surely thats the easiest thing to do..... No???

My point is that clearly Longy is crying for help and i really hope he gets it!! if he was to go on to do what Terry Newton did it would leave a massive scar on everyone in Rugby League as a whole, things need to be done and as the saints fan said the players aren't laden down with cash/financial security when they retire from playing although often money/security isn't always one of the reasons!

Hopefully going to the press may save his sanity, great player and probably a mighty fine great laugh of a guy.... he sounds it from his autobiography!

Best of luck to him

Given this admission I'm surprised that you post as frequently as you do

As soon as I pressed 'submit' I put my head in my hands and thought I'd set myself up for this reply

If its any consolation I hate myself for not resisting

Let's hope you never get to the point where you feel the only way to make things better is to take your life. Depression is an illness and you should show a bit more sensitivity to those suffering with it and those that may read your comments.

You will grow up, we all do.

Salford have announced the re-signing of Sean Long on a consultancy basis to work alongside Brian Noble.

Long
Chase
Hock
Gleeson
Smith

What could go wrong?

i seriously doubt that at my age



on the plus side, ive taken on board many of your comments and am making a point of reading up on the subject.