Coaching, GF changes, coping through COVID with Kavanagh, Clancey

Nick Armistead – Head of Media

During a time when positive headlines are few and far between, Adelaide’s first win of the AFL season on Tuesday night brought a much-needed sense of relief. Unless you’re a Hawthorn supporter (or potentially even Port Adelaide), as a football fan it was great to watch the Crows end a 13-game losing streak and, at the same time, ensure they didn’t become the first team since Fitzroy in 1964 to endure a winless season.

Just as importantly, the win was Matthew Nicks’ first as senior coach – no doubt ending months of sleepless nights since taking the reins from Don Pyke. Hopefully for Crows supporters, as in cricket, one brings two, and Nicks can start to see the fruits of his hard work with a few more W’s and a long and successful coaching career. After all, it took Damien Hardwick 10 games to get the Tigers on the board in 2010 while Alastair Clarkson won just one of his first seven – now there’s six flags between them.

Closer to home, we’ve seen a lot of VAFA clubs turn their focus to coaching for 2021 and beyond. Collegians recently locked in former AFL defender (and the man who beat Aaron Davey and Adam Cooney for the 2004 Rising Star Award) Jared Rivers as their next senior coach, while Glen Eira, Fitzroy, and Hawthorn AFC have this week reappointed their own fearless leaders. VAFA clubs have always attracted quality coaches and with the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the AFL cuts, there will no doubt be further announcements of high-quality personnel filtering into our competition.

Other football-related news before we dive into this week’s editorial is the announcement of the AFL Grand Final being played under lights at the Gabba. As Melburnians, the idea of watching the most celebrated game of the year at a venue other than the ‘G is disappointing, but as football fans, the thought of experimenting with something new – particularly a night GF on the back of a Cox Plate – is exciting. And slightly tiring. Fingers crossed the AFL experiences the same level of success the VAFA had when moving the William Buck Premier Grand Final from EP to Ikon Park in 2015 – St Bernard’s vs Old Trinity, sun shining, not a breath of wind, 218 points kicked for the day and just eight points separating the two sides at the final siren. Even a shade of similarity will end the AFL season on a high.

Moving to the purpose of today’s piece, and the number one priority for clubs right now is the health and wellbeing of their members. VAFA Media spoke to Tarah Kavanagh (Carlton FC), Pat Clancey (Hawthorn AFC), Nick Walsh (Tackle Your Feelings), and Joe Pignataro (St Bernard’s) on this week’s podcast – all of whom provided incredible insight into maintaining a positive mindset throughout a bleak period.

Pat, who is the former President of Hawthorn AFC, has overseen the club’s Wings Program for a decade now – a leading mental health initiative in community football. Commencing in 2010 following the suicide of three members of the Hawks family, the club set up a Mental Health Fund to assist those who were experiencing a tough time by removing the financial barrier to accessing professional help.

The evolution of the program has been phenomenal, with annual MH breakfasts, guest speakers, soup night donations and a litany of other initiatives contributing to the fund. It’s amazing to hear up to 25 people have received assistance from the fund over the years, and even more amazing that other clubs have been reaching out to Pat for information as they look to implement a similar initiative for their members.

Perhaps the most telling interview from an individual’s perspective was Carlton FC psychologist Tarah Kavanagh. Tarah, who has spent more than 10 years in the AFL system at the Blues, Hawthorn and North Melbourne, crafted her skillset at Melbourne University so, naturally, we’re claiming her as one of our own.

Feedback I’ve received about Tarah’s interview has consistently praised the ease at which she explains society’s collective mindset after two separate lockdown periods. If, like many, you coped well through Lockdown #1 but are experiencing increased difficulties during Lockdown #2, it is well worth listening to Tarah explain the brain’s short-term stress response and the resulting fatigue.

More than anything, Tarah gave our community key takeaways by explaining the four strategies she’s found to have helped people cope throughout this COVID period.

1. Manage expectations

“Early on I heard a lot of people talking about this (lockdown) as an opportunity to thrive and use the time. And if you’re in that boat, that’s fantastic but for a lot of people their goal this year is really to survive, and I think we need to be ok with that. We need to be ok that if we get through this year and we survive it that’s a pretty good effort.”

2. Unhook from the emotional rollercoaster

“The second thing is that it has been an emotional rollercoaster and a lot of people really struggle to understand, label and acknowledge their feelings. So, a strategy I’ve been talking to a lot of people about is journaling, writing things down, writing about how you’re feeling, talking to people about how you’re feeling to allow yourself to unhook from that emotional rollercoaster.”

3. Bring back the self-care

“I’m finding that because people are struggling, their self-care has really gone out the window. So just making sure you’re getting back to those positive daily habits that you do when you function at your best. Whether that is spending time in nature, whether that is doing things you enjoy. So just getting back to the things that you know you do when you function best and really look after yourself.”

4. Have D&M’s

“The fourth thing is that social connection. Our brains really need other brains and right now that’s really tough in terms of shut down, in terms of even for us up here that we’re away from our support systems. And when people are talking to each other at the moment there’s not really a lot to talk about because we’re not really doing too much, and we don’t have a lot of common experiences. People are sick of talking about COVID. So one of the things I’ve suggested to people is really reach out to your network, talk to different people, talk to people you haven’t spoken to for a while and have some really deep conversations because your brain needs it. It needs that depth and that stimulation.”

If you’re experiencing any mental health concerns, or just need to speak to someone, please reach out to any of the following:

Thick & Thin: https://www.facebook.com/thickandthinvic

Tackle Your Feelings: https://www.tackleyourfeelings.org.au/

Beyondblue: https://www.beyondblue.org.au/

Headspace: https://headspace.org.au/

Lifeline: www.lifeline.org.au