Retired Allen Christensen (2014-2020)

Dylan12

Brownlow Medallist
Sep 7, 2007
22,114
23,297
Melbourne
AFL Club
Brisbane Lions
Other Teams
Chelsea, Boston Red Sox
Dayne Zorko to captain Lions in 2019 (Josie Fielding)
Zorko will front an eight-man leadership group with Harris Andrews as Vice-Captain. Ryan Lester, Stefan Martin and Allen Christensen will return to the group, with new additions Darcy Gardiner, Jarrod Berry and Lachie Neale. The group will continue to be mentored by Luke Hodge.

The seven members joining him are thrilled to lead beside him:

Allen Christensen – “I’m proud to be part of this leadership group for the third year and strongly believe in our cause.”

View attachment 619815
 

jackess

Cancelled
30k Posts 10k Posts
Aug 10, 2005
46,545
42,486
AFL Club
Brisbane Lions
Hopefully Bundy has a big year. Easy to forget that before the collarbone injuries and a pretty average season last year he was progressing quite well and looked like becoming a gun midfielder.
 

Dylan12

Brownlow Medallist
Sep 7, 2007
22,114
23,297
Melbourne
AFL Club
Brisbane Lions
Other Teams
Chelsea, Boston Red Sox
WOW!!

https://www.afl.com.au/news/2019-03-20/how-a-gambling-addiction-almost-destroyed-a-lions-life

A lot of inuendo was around at the time he left Geelong, a lot of it misplaced

Good on him for coming out about his problems,
Good on Bundy for coming out in such fashion and removing himself from that environment and being open to the Lions. Good on the Lions for giving him a chance too.

Reiterates to me how dangerous gambling is, and yes for many it isn't a problem, but for a lot it is and further enhances my disappointment at the Lions for getting into bed with a betting agency and selling its soul for some more money. Its a cop out.

But given this about Bundy, good on him for being clean for over 4 years.
 
Oct 13, 2001
16,919
24,201
Brisbane
AFL Club
Brisbane Lions
Other Teams
Lions
Good on Bundy for coming out in such fashion and removing himself from that environment and being open to the Lions. Good on the Lions for giving him a chance too.

Reiterates to me how dangerous gambling is, and yes for many it isn't a problem, but for a lot it is and further enhances my disappointment at the Lions for getting into bed with a betting agency and selling its soul for some more money. Its a cop out.

But given this about Bundy, good on him for being clean for over 4 years.

Yeah, whilst I appreciate the commercial realities of securing a sponsor, I too am disappointed that we have chosen the proverbial bottom line over moral and ethical considerations.

I can't imagine Bundy being enthralled with the club's new sponsor.
 

BigCat2

Norm Smith Medallist
Sep 10, 2006
5,380
2,248
Brisbane
AFL Club
Brisbane Lions
Good on ya Bundy.

I remember at the time of the trade, there were whispers about reasons for him leaving. I remember at the time he mentioned that he hoped to one day talk about the reason for him leaving, and that he can be a model for the community. Then I knew the rumours were way off the mark.
 
I can't imagine Bundy being enthralled with the club's new sponsor.
The way the club has been run over the last couple of years to increase player welfare and buy-in, I struggle to imagine we'd sign them up without talking to Christensen first to check what kind of impact it would have upon him.
 

Dylan12

Brownlow Medallist
Sep 7, 2007
22,114
23,297
Melbourne
AFL Club
Brisbane Lions
Other Teams
Chelsea, Boston Red Sox
Allen Christensen opens up on harrowing gambling addiction (Alex Blair)
AFL player Allen Christensen has opened up on the fortunes he’s lost to addiction in a harrowing tell-all ahead of the footy season. Lions midfielder Allen Christensen describes his battle with addiction as a “rollercoaster”.

Drafted to Geelong in 2009 as a wiry young ball magnet, Christensen was given an opportunity very few ever dream of possessing. After two years of proving himself in the VFL reserves, the Victorian was given the nod for the Cats. While enjoying an impressive debut season — as Geelong claimed the 2011 premiership — a darker chapter of the rising star’s life off the field was emerging.

He began sinking his wage into horse racing. Before long it became an addiction he admits “consumed his life”. In the first episode of his podcast Addicted to The Game, Christensen recalled the time he was forced to try and win $200 from a five dollar note just to pay rent that week — and how every establishment in Geelong became connected with a win or a loss.

“At the time I thought I needed to make a decision for me to stop that cycle,” Christensen said, per AFL.com.au. “Everywhere I walked in Geelong … that’s the pub I turned $30 into $5000 or that’s the pub we turned $1000 into $5, everywhere I walked.” The drug of continuous sports betting — which at times netted the young star tens of thousands of dollars in a single day — had taken hold. “I just wanted to be on every race,” he said. "It consumed so much of my life. Everything I did revolved around racing. “I’d deposited just over $300,000 into my account, I don’t know how much I took out, but it was a cycle.
cf0de4d9ca9f505a96af03a4a58c6797


“I’d say definitely hundreds of thousands of dollars (were lost), at the track, at the TAB. “Biggest outlay was $18,000. The next race I acted like it never happened. (The) biggest amount I won was around $50,000 in a day, but I think I lost a lot of that over the next week.”

The problem continued to plague his career until then Geelong football manager Neil Balme knocked on his door after the 2014 season came to a close. It was a particularly tough year on the field for Christensen, who only played eight rounds due to a back injury. “He came knocking on the door and told me he’d been hearing things about me owing money to some people,” Christensen said. “(He said) ‘We need to help you’. “I’m forever grateful for that because that was a lightbulb moment for me.”

Christensen was soon in talks with the Brisbane Lions and admitted “absolutely everything” to the Queensland club. “I don’t know if I could have gone cold turkey straight away if I didn’t leave Geelong,” he said. “I’m forever grateful to Brisbane for taking a chance on me at the time, there was a lot of s*** being spoken about me. Ever since I got the trade to Brisbane I was able to remove those triggers from my life and become that person I wanted to be.”

Christensen unfortunately caught the Lions in a rough patch but signs point to a Brisbane resurgence in the coming years after a run of cellar-dweller finishes of late. Under coach Chris Fagan’s guidance in 2019, Brisbane is hotly tipped to rise from its recent woes, with some believing the Lions can secure a first finals spot since 2009.

Fagan has heard that talk but he’s more circumspect about what his side can achieve. “I’ve been asked the question if you don’t make finals this year will the year be considered a failure?,” Fagan said. “That means we’ve got to jump from five wins to 13 and if any business improves 160 per cent in one year that’s a pretty good business. “I’m not sure we can improve that much. We’ll certainly aim to ... we’ll enjoy the process of getting closer to that. We think we can but it will take a little bit of luck.”

Pretty much a re-hash of Fish's article.
 

Dylan12

Brownlow Medallist
Sep 7, 2007
22,114
23,297
Melbourne
AFL Club
Brisbane Lions
Other Teams
Chelsea, Boston Red Sox
Q&A — ALLEN CHRISTENSEN (Kavisha Di Pietro)
After struggling with a gambling addiction for a significant period of his life, Allen Christensen wanted to raise awareness for addiction and adversity to help reduce the stigma surrounding mental health. Supported by two of his brothers and a close friend, Christensen started the Addicted to the Game podcast to speak candidly about his own battles and with other guests who have been through similar situations. Christensen spoke to AFLPlayers.com.au shortly after launching his podcast about his experience with addiction and the importance of speaking out.

How did the idea come about to start the podcast but also to have your brothers and close friend join you?

The idea probably came about because we all love Ice Hockey and all listen to a podcast and talk about it. I was listening one day and there was a guy on there who spoke about how after his hockey career had finished he became addicted to painkillers and over-the-counter medication. I was listening to him speak and thought it was amazing to hear him speak about his addiction but also how open he was. I thought, you know what? I should just approach the boys and we can have some fun with it but have our overarching theme of ‘talking smack and fighting back.’ That’s where the initial idea came from.

You spoke a little bit during the start of your podcast about wanting to create awareness for addiction and adversity that arises out of addiction, whether that be for the person themselves or someone close to them. How important was it to make that a clear focus of what you want to achieve with the podcast?

It was really important. If I wanted it to just be about addiction and myself, I would’ve just made it about myself and I would’ve been the only one on it. By having my brothers and a mate on it, it gives an overarching theme and support to all of the people who are affected by addiction. What I want to get out of it, is that yes I might be the AFL player on it and I can use my voice as a platform, but it isn’t just about me. It’s not my podcast, it’s me, my brothers and Jimmy. At the end of the day, I might be driving the media but hopefully people can listen to it and hear the other voices and the other opinions and really understand that it isn’t just about me, but everyone else.

How important was it having the support of your brothers and Jimmy on the podcast when you made the decision to go public about your gambling addiction?

I think that was another thing that I liked about the podcast was that I was able to control my own destiny and what came out about it, what was said and what I wanted to talk about. There is always going to be stuff that we won’t talk about in the public because at the end of the day there are people who are affected by this who probably don’t want their name involved or don’t want to hear about it. That’s just the way it is but I think with me being able to control what’s out there, people can listen to it and get out of it what they will. I like that part of it.

You were incredibly open and honest and covered a lot of your journey. How challenging was it for you knowing you’re in the public and that people could be affected by what was said?

I think with my experience over the past four years (in recovery), my friends and family and the boys at the footy club in Brisbane, I’ve been pretty upfront with them the whole time about my challenges and what I’m dealing with. It wasn’t too hard to talk about it with the boys. At the end of the day people will judge it for what they think it is going to be and that’s for the public to decide and making their opinions of it. It’s been four years so it has been a long time, which is why I did it now because I was finally ready.

You also spoke about this in your podcast a little bit, but how did moving to Brisbane allow you to acknowledge your experiences and begin a recovery process?

Probably just the way they were pretty accepting of it. When I opened up to them they were accepting of what was going on and it was no-brainer. I knew I had support mechanisms up there and that was pretty much it. I knew I had to remove the triggers from my life to stop betting and that was as far away as I could get without going to West Coast or Fremantle. It was a tough decision because I’ve grown up in Geelong and playing there I had so many good memories. It was a tough decision to leave but at the end of the day it’s been a good decision for that.

It’s been four years since you last placed a bet, and you mentioned it in the podcast too, but how important has structure and day-to-day progressions been to help you?

Absolutely! I don’t think I can look too far into the future and as any addict will know it’s just day-to-day life. Some days, especially for me around spring carnival, I’ll have my ups and downs and it can get pretty tough. Like I said, for anyone who has an addiction it’s an ongoing battle and you’re never truly over it. It’s about putting those things in place so you don’t do that again.

For your own progression in your recovery, how important was it to speak up to acknowledge and recognise what you’re going through and what you experienced?

That’s I think why I got my brothers and Jimmy on the podcast. It gives it a bit of normality to it. There are a lot of people who go through addiction and other adversity so to have Aaron, Luke and Jimmy on it, it gives the listeners a sense of empathy. It’s important to have them on there for that reason. I’ll keep saying it, I might draw people to the podcast, but I think it’s more fascinating to hear what the others will have to say over the coming weeks.

What can people expect from future episodes?

A big thing we’re trying to get is that the people we’re interviewing aren’t just high-level athletes but we’ve got a soccer coach from Albury-Wodonga region who has battled a gambling addiction, we’ve got a couple of horse trainers who dealt with me during my addiction, we’ve got an Olympic swimmer, a triathlete. We’ve got a wide range of people coming on and I think that will give it some really interesting listening. That’s the thing around sporting clubs I think it’s really improved with people speaking out about their mental health problems. We’re just another outlet where we can talk about that stuff. We’ll also be talking about footy and hopefully I can give some insight into what it’s like being part of an AFL club. I think that will be a pretty cool drawcard. My brothers can be a bit simple sometimes (laughs) but they’re pretty entertaining. That’s what we’re basing ourselves on, we like talking smack and fighting back. I think that sums us up pretty well.

Thanks for the chat, Allen. I look forward to tuning in to the rest of the series.

No worries, thank you.

You can listen to the Addicted to the Game podcast here, and follow them on Instagram here.

1553322345494.png
 

Dylan12

Brownlow Medallist
Sep 7, 2007
22,114
23,297
Melbourne
AFL Club
Brisbane Lions
Other Teams
Chelsea, Boston Red Sox
Why can't he get a game? Your club's missing men
After finishing last season in defence, Allen Christensen is on the outside looking in following some injury and form issues early in 2019. The 27-year-old was in contention for a round one spot before hurting his ankle in the Lions' intraclub and after missing three weeks through rehab, had been passed by second-year speedster Zac Bailey. Christensen was given a chance against Essendon and Collingwood, but much like the team, struggled, was dropped, and is back playing NEAFL.

How does he get back in?
Christensen needs a touch of luck. He is versatile, able to play as a rebounding defender or small forward and seems to be vying with draftee Noah Answerth – who debuted at the weekend – and Bailey for his preferred position at half-back. In the final year of his contract, Christensen is still in the club's top 25 players. He needs to be creative with the ball at NEAFL level and perhaps a move further upfield – to the wing or half-forward – might create more opportunities.

1556670416490.png
 

Dylan12

Brownlow Medallist
Sep 7, 2007
22,114
23,297
Melbourne
AFL Club
Brisbane Lions
Other Teams
Chelsea, Boston Red Sox
UNSUNG HEROES — ROUND 14
Brisbane: Allen Christensen

Returning to Brisbane’s line-up for his third game of 2019, Allen Christensen played a pivotal role in the Lions’ convincing victory over St Kilda. With the likes of Charlie Cameron, Hugh McCluggage, Dayne Zorko and Jarryd Lyons receiving all the plaudits, Christensen flew under the radar. The 28-year-old collected 18 disposals, at 83 per cent efficiency, took six marks and laid six tackles, including five inside 50s. But, it was his two goals, including a magnificent snap from the boundary that were most impressive.
 

Dylan12

Brownlow Medallist
Sep 7, 2007
22,114
23,297
Melbourne
AFL Club
Brisbane Lions
Other Teams
Chelsea, Boston Red Sox
Unsung Heroes - Round 18
Brisbane: Allen Christensen

Earlier this season, Allen Christensen’s career appeared to be at a crossroads with the Brisbane midfielder unable to break into the side. Since returning to the senior team in Round 14, Christensen hasn’t looked back. On Saturday night against a determined North Melbourne outfit, Christensen kicked an equal game-high three goals and collected 11 disposals to help the Lions to a comeback victory.

Great game by Allen on the weekend and was in my votes.
 
Back