Roosters rep squads tackle mental fitness as they chase NRL dream

When 21 year old aspiring rugby league pro and Roosters’ NSW State Cup representative player Hugo Savala attended the club’s induction day for season 2024, he learnt a lot. From club values to managing his training program to build muscle. But one of the biggest lessons he learnt was the importance of building his emotional muscles - and telling people he loved them.

The Roosters asked Gotcha4Life to help prepare Hugo and 60 other young Rooster State Cup and Jersey Flegg squad members on the cusp of a NRL career to deal with the pressures, successes and disappointments of elite sport - and life - by building their mental fitness.

The players sat in the Roosters’ gym surrounded by the high-tech bikes and rowers they use to build their physical fitness, for a workshop with Gotcha4Life’s Gus Worland where they learnt building their emotional muscles is just as important as working on their hamstrings and biceps.

“The day was about professional and personal development as they strive for a career in the NRL. It is a general player induction, but what we want to get right from the very start is the understanding of the support that goes alongside that elite athlete high-performance system,” Roosters Career and Education Manager Sheridan Hawkins explains.

“We knew Gus from the Gotcha4Life Cup (the annual game between the Roosters and Manly Sea Eagles which aims to raise awareness and funds for mental fitness), and they come and speak to NRL players, so we thought it would be a great way to start to set the scene and make the importance of wellbeing very clear from day one.”

The pressure on the players as they work towards their NRL dream is immense.

Many relocate to Sydney, some at age 16 and 17. The workshop included squad members who have moved from New Zealand, Fiji, Queensland and country NSW. Some share rooms with bunk beds in homes provided by the Roosters, and many are hosted by extended family.

Contracted rep players earn some money, but it’s not enough to live on and they need to work outside jobs. While Hugo, from Coogee in Roosters’ heartland, is fortunate to live at home, he works night shifts on his four training days, day shifts the rest of the week. 

“Elite systems don’t come without pressure,” Sheridan says. “You can’t avoid the pressure, you just have to learn ways to deal with that, and a big part of that is identity outside of footy and mental fitness - being able to be vulnerable when things aren’t going so well, reach out when you need to, and be grateful for those that are in your life.”

As part of the workshop, the squad wrote down their ‘A team’, the people they are closest with and who they can turn to for support. Those names would have been fresh in the mind of one of the squad who then suffered a season-ending shoulder injury.

“With injury, we find the psychological rehab alongside the physical rehabilitation is so up and down. They’re just young people who have no idea what it’s like not to be able to use a knee or shoulder properly and they’ve got this huge process of rehabilitation ahead of them - and if they don’t do that properly, that’s their career down the gurgler.”

"So the workshop would have helped the injured player to go, ‘It’s ok to feel this way and it’s ok to be vulnerable and talk to someone about how I feel’.

“It's important for their mental health to understand who they are outside footy. If you can get injured, or dropped or go through a run of non-selection, it’s so important to know who you are and that you matter to the world more than your football. That idea of being able to be present where they are holds you up during those times, but it can also take the pressure off so you can play a bit better.”

Gus pushed the squad out of their comfort zone when he asked them to take out their phones and message someone they loved.

“They all did it. You could tell some were not overly comfortable, but Gus told them, it’s a muscle - you have to learn to use it. So they were brave enough to start,” Sheridan says.

“That’s where Gus made the point - we can joke 95% of the time, we are Aussies, these boys are footballers, we do love to have a good time and a joke, but it’s also OK to be serious and honest and vulnerable that other 5% of the time.

“The guys really loved it. You could have heard a pin drop. I was surprised at how energised the guys were through the session. The connection and reflection they were doing was very special.”

Gus shared with the squads the difference mental fitness can make when chasing their NRL goal.

“What I loved about talking to the young Roosters was the fact I could make an easy comparison with them being so physically fit, and the difference that extra 1% or 5% of mental fitness can make when they’re so close to their NRL dreams coming true,” Gus says.

“These boys now know that while it’s all about being physically fit and being ready, mental fitness will help take you to that next level. When you’re clear of mind, and making sure that you are as fit in the head as you are physically, you are unstoppable. And then you’ve got the best possible chance of taking it to the next level, going to the NRL and staying there and having a good career.”

“That’s the type of stuff that (Roosters and NSW State of Origin captain James Tedesco) Teddy speaks about. He wishes he knew mental fitness was just as important as physical fitness when he started out, but of course, back in the day, they didn’t know that.”

Hugo agrees.

“I really got a lot out of it and so did the boys,” he says. “I thought it was going to be just another mental health speech, but Gus shocked us. It wasn’t what I was expecting, the way he put everyone on the spot and made you text the person that you most love and tell them you love them.” 

“I’ve never heard a speech like that. Instead of people just sitting there listening, or maybe not even listening, it was the most you could have got out of a group of young 21 year olds.

“It’ll help us deal with any problems, any sort of tough times, or if anyone’s not speaking up, or the youngest boys are too scared to say something in the team.”

Mindful that women in the Roosters NRLW rep squad faces similar pressures - with some having the additional pressure of being mums to young babies and toddlers - the club plan to repeat the workshop for its NRLW rep squads during their season induction too.

The women will learn the lessons Hugo is already putting into practice in his life. 

“I’ve definitely change since that speech. It was a bit of a wake up call to check in on people that you might not be seeing as much. I have family overseas, my mum just moved, so I’m checking in on her, going over and seeing her. I’ve checked in with one of the boys in my team who was having a tough time, and he was appreciative of that.”

“You’ve got to appreciate the people around you, the ones you really love, and make sure you tell them you love them everyday.”