Play Nice Get well soon Jack Steven

[PHX]

People are such lazy thinkers. The whole point of the "Mental Health" angle is that the player can claim it AND it's also hidden from media view so there is no consequence to the player. If Jack had a drug issue, given the current storylines there is zero chance they would've chosen mental illness as the reason, they'd choose something boring like a calf to avoid the hysteria.

It's incredibly courageous by Jack to step forward while this other side story is going on and be willing to say he has a mental illness and needs a week or two to get away and refresh. Good luck to him and I hope he's able to reset and be back soon loving what he's doing.

 

[Isaac Cumming No 1]

Seems to be all too prevalent acriss the system with the pressure players are under these days.

Certainly wish him a speedy recovery and hopefully he can return and continue to give our coaches a headache trying to contain him again this year. Much underrated club stalwart.

I do get it's about his health at this stage though.

 

[PHX]

As one of the people who posed the question about Stuv having strikes let me play Devil's advocate here.

My understanding is that a player under an injury cloud or medically ruled out for physical reasons (calf, broken bone, concussed etc) is still inside the reach of the AFL/ASADA testing sphere. A player who has stepped away from the game due to mental illness is not & they will be tested and re-enter that sphere upon their return to the club for training.

The theory then is that drug use is common among AFL players and that taking leave for 'mental issues' is their way of removing themselves from the testing pool in order to detox, clean up and avoid a positive return.

Very few people (inc myself) have actually accused Jack Steven of taking drugs. Let's make that clear. The timing is simply terrible given our former coach has just raised this exact scenario and was followed up by our (arguably) greatest ever player and captain saying that the drugs issue is "out of control" because the players can get away with it.

So the questions being asked are: "Does Jack Steven have any strikes against his name under the AFL illicit drug policy? Was anyone in the club aware of any testing being done in the lead up to round 1?". That there is no transparency on this speaks more about how the AFL handles the issue than Jack personally. Unfortunately as fans we are given the choice to either take it at face value and believe St Kilda/Jack Steven is beyond reproach OR ask the harder questions of the club/player when the media clearly wont.

I honestly hope for the best for Jack. Go back through some of my posts from 2013 and you'll see my mental state was dead set ******. It's no fun at all waking up everyday hating everything but unfortunately these questions were always going to come out as soon as a player/club utters the phrase "Mental Health" break.

All fair because I have zero inside info on this either, but I keep coming back to if Jack had drug issues and he's trying to circumvent testing what was the value for St Kilda to be so open yesterday to open it all up to the media with Lethlean giving quotes all about it and detail of him fronting the group and going interstate?

We have not seen of any names of these apparent masses of players naming mental health issues to get out of testing anywhere in the public space, so if this is the real reason for Jack's absence wouldn't the thing to do be the exact same as all these others, and simply lodge the info and keep the "mental health" detail in-house?

 

[L_W_P]

All fair because I have zero inside info on this either, but I keep coming back to if Jack had drug issues and he's trying to circumvent testing what was the value for St Kilda to be so open yesterday to open it all up to the media with Lethlean giving quotes all about it and detail of him fronting the group and going interstate?

We have not seen of any names of these apparent masses of players naming mental health issues to get out of testing anywhere in the public space, so if this is the real reason for Jack's absence wouldn't the thing to do be the exact same as all these others, and simply lodge the info and keep the "mental health" detail in-house?

Yep.

And that's where it turns to a criticism of the AFL system/media coverage vs any kind of ill thinking about Stuv.

All signs point to it being legitimate but unfortunately it's impossible to prove and, given the topic of conversation this week from a couple of high profile Saints people, the timing couldn't be worse from a PR stand point.

 

[Freshwater]

I goes to show that every player out there ‘taking the piss’ and saying they have a mental health issue so they can dabble recreationally is making it damn hard for the guenuine cases. Couple that with a toxic media and social media, including BF and there is problems. Get well Jack.

 

[George]

There is no drug issue. Lets leave it at that.

 

[plugger66]

There is no drug issue. Lets leave it at that.

I cant believe some people. you don't have a player talking to the rest of the group if its anything but the truth. They would hidden it away ala one of our favourites previously. All I can say is im glad Jack hates all this media stuff and isn't on any of those platforms. Get well jacky boy.

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

Same thing happened with Aaron Francis lets hope Jack can overcome what ever issues he has all the best in your recovery

 

[CALL ME SNAKE]

a private matter.
I heard he discussed it with the club and will be taking 2 weeks off and is expected to be back for the start of the season .
Nothing to see here, just give the bloke a little privacy and stop speculating .

 

[Keg on legs]

Hope Jack gets all the help he needs to be happy and healthy. Footy is insignificant in comparison to someone's health.

Get well soon Stuv.

 

[triggering bro]

Listening to Lethers & reading between the lines, Jack is likely to be available after JLT is completed, but Lethers didn’t want to commit to a timeframe because Jack’s health could change & he may need more time away from football.

I’m not ready to write Jack off (oops) for the start of the proper season, I think he’ll play round 1, but obviously his health is no.1 priority so he must get that right firstly.

 

[Mitch35]

Listening to Lethers & reading between the lines, Jack is likely to be available after JLT is completed, but Lethers didn’t want to commit to a time frame because Jack’s health could change & he may need more time away from football.

I’m not ready to write Jack off (oops) for the start of the proper season, I think he’ll play round 1, but obviously his health is no.1 priority so he must get that right firstly.

I think it speaks volumes about Jack and his leadership that he not only identified his issue to his team mates, but also allowed the club to report it externally to the media. By the sounds of things, this could have easily have been kept internal to a small part of the club, or the playing group, and no one would have been the wiser.

He will no doubt have ups and downs in his recovery (as he would have had already - I certainly have experienced mental demons), but the fact that he really has taken ownership about it, spoken up and allowed it to be communicated indicates to me that he's taken the first major step to being on the mend. Huge kudos to the guy to put his hand up when he is our star player.

Get well soon Jack, and thanks for sharing. Inspiring others to seek and continue their own mental health healing.

 

[CFC2010]

 

[st_trav_ofWA]

Hands up everyone who was giving that Collingwood player shit about the same thing recently...

nope ... i think players are fiar game for critisim but there needs to be a line drawn anything racial is not acceptable and when a person no matter who asks for help with a mental issue then its a no go zone .. in my opinion

 

[70s sainter]

Correct me if I’m wrong but I heard he is doing an interview with SEN on Monday

 

[Present Not Past]

If he's back for round one

 

[tim_saints]

The people accusing Jack of being on three strikes or what ever the hell it is they “think” is going on, have never obviously experienced a mental health issue in their life or been around someone with it.

It’s honestly so ****ing draining, you don’t feel like doing anything no matter how much you want to, it’s energy sapping and he needs all the time he can get to help him get on the straight and narrow.

It can change in a week, a day, 3 days or can be with you for years and all you do is simply manage it.

Some of the crap I’ve seen online is half the reason it’s so prevelant in our society at the moment.

Also the fact he came forward and acknowledged there was something wrong is absolutely one of he bravest things he will do in his life because believe me it isn’t bloody easy.

Hope he gets well soon, if he doesn’t play this year sobeit, so long as everything above the neck is in order for his future.