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Courageous Conversations: Tom Boyd

Western Bulldogs forward Tom Boyd has partnered with Movember for the second part of Courageous Conversations. 

Western Bulldogs premiership forward Tom Boyd has revealed that his decision to retire from AFL football had little to do with his fluctuating mental health.

Boyd said he had come to realise over his journey that playing in the AFL was not something he needed to do after stepping away from the game in May this year.

“I’m super comfortable. I’ve had some pretty positive changes since I finished up. I’m back at university, I’m playing local footy and I got engaged so all things are going well,” Boyd said.

Boyd talks about the motivation behind his decision to retire and what he’s learned from his mental health struggles, as part of the Courageous Conversations series, which is a collaboration between the AFL Players’ Association and the Movember Foundation.

The Movember Foundation is also the presenting partner of the AFL Players’ Association’s Robert Rose Most Courageous Award.

The AFL Players’ Association is working with headspace to deliver a training program to players and staff, focussing on how to safely convey stories of lived experience of mental ill-health. The training from headspace supports an individual to identify what elements of their story they want to share and also clarify their purpose for sharing. This allows them to set boundaries ahead of any storytelling opportunity and prepare themselves for any impact of the story being made public which can come from media, community or friends and family who mightn’t be aware of the experience.

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