The Roosters and Sea Eagles tackle Mental Fitness Head-On in the annual Gotcha4Life Cup
On Thursday 3rd August the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles and the Sydney Roosters, went head-to-head for the second Gotcha4Life Cup. An incredible night of footy, great conversations, and celebration of mateship on and off the field.
The energy of the 12,000-strong crowd at the SCG was contagious. Despite the rivalry shared between the two teams on the field, one thing that every person watching the Gotcha4Life Cup from the SCG, or at home, could agree on, was that building your mental fitness is an important topic to tackle.
Driving awareness and prompting action to build mental fitness, by having healthier conversations that go beyond the banter, and looking after each other is the major reason the two teams took the field on Thursday night. Despite an explosive on-field performance as both teams vied for the cup and the all-important 2-points - both clubs and all players were united in sharing this important and timely message.
With suicide taking the lives of nine people across Australia every day, the Gotcha4Life Cup aims to raise awareness around the concept of mental fitness, and encourage us all to take simple steps to build our emotional muscles, not just our physical ones.
Footy players know all about physical fitness - it’s their livelihood - but mental fitness is something that many people are only just coming to understand.
Mental fitness refers to all the daily things we do to help build our mental and emotional fitness. It includes things like learning to talk about our feelings instead of bottling them up, and learning to confide in someone when things aren’t going your way. Importantly, our mental fitness determines to a large extent, how we respond to the challenges and stress we face in our lives.
In the lead up to the Gotcha4Life Cup, some of the Sydney Roosters and Manly Sea Eagles players spoke to Gus Worland about what it means to be mentally fit.
Speaking about the importance of talking about being brave enough to speak up and show your feelings, Manly Sea Eagles Captain Daly Cherry-Evans says “As a young kid my father was always teaching me to be tough and I think this is an expectation of footy players. I found the best thing that I can do is be vulnerable and show emotion. I’ve found there’s a direct correlation between my own mental fitness and how I perform on the footy field. Having a clear head and living a healthy and balanced lifestyle has definitely had a positive impact on my footy career.”
Luke Keary from the Sydney Roosters says “I think the stigma of mental health has been broken down a lot since I first joined the NRL. I’m seeing a lot more of the boys opening up to each other and think it’s great that we’re beginning to have more conversations about mental health and mental fitness. I make sure that each week ‘I’m filling up my own cup’ and giving back to myself to make sure my mental health is in check. That might be having a game of golf, catching up with a mate that I haven't seen for a while, ringing Mum and Dad or checking in with my brothers. Doing little things like that definitely makes you feel better.”
Our Founder, Gus Worland has been clear from the start what the Cup is all about, “After leaving this match, I want everyone to think about the people they cherish and love in their lives, while also working to build their own mental fitness.
When we talk about building mental fitness, we’re talking about anything you do to help you to feel better able to cope with the stresses and challenges that everyday life throws at us. Building our mental fitness makes it easier and more comfortable to have open and honest conversations with the people we love.”
It was an incredible night. Both teams battled it out and at the end of the evening, James Tedesco the Roosters captain, shared how much the game meant to him, and what a privilege it was to again be part of such an epic event that raised more than $200,000. We are so grateful to every player who took to the field on Thursday night and proudly wore the Gotcha4Life logo on their jerseys, in support of building a more mentally fit future.
