A collective effort from rugby league and the people around it will help mental health strength and prevention programs reach more than 50 communities across Australia.
In June, league great Greg Inglis' Goanna Academy asked players, fans and all others around the sport to, literally, wear the message no one should suffer alone.
The academy's 'Stick With It' campaign sold enough tape, wrapped around wrists, to cross 32 footy fields, it announces.
It turned a piece of strapping into something powerful, and now, impact on the ground.
Inglis said he's "genuinely blown away by what this community has come together to do" and grateful to see how much support came their way.
"When we launched this campaign, we asked people to put a piece of tape on their wrist. What they've given back is so much more than that," Inglis said.
"Every dollar donated, every piece of merch purchased, every player who taped up... it all adds up to something real. To clinics in communities that haven't had this kind of support before.
"To kids in schools getting the tools to ask for help. To people knowing they don't have to go through this alone."
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Goanna Academy delivers programs in schools, in workplaces to strengthen mental fitness and psychological safety, culturally-safe engagement with First Nations communities and local clinics.
Academy staff each have their own lived experience.
They're not doctors, psychiatrists or a crisis service, Inglis said in June, they're about prevention and giving people the tools for their mental wellbeing.
The 250-plus NRL gamer, modern great and Maroons icon has spoken publicly about his own mental health battles post-career.
Current stars like Indigenous Dally M winners Nicho Hynes and Olivia Kernick, as well as Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, Taliah Fuimaono, Dane Gagai are more NRL and NRLW players donned tape on their wrists during games.
On launching the campaign, Kernick said "it's really important to be able to spread the message about mental health" and "getting into schools, teaching the kids that it is cool to speak up and to check in on your mates and to touch base with each other".
Goanna Academy said thanks to the support received, they'll deliver over 50 preventative mental health clinics and programs right across Australia.
The campaign and engagement they got back is helping communities, often facing barriers, get reached, it added.
"This campaign means we can reach more communities, remove more barriers and show up for more people. That is what your support has made possible. I can't thank you enough," Inglis said.
"Thanks to everyone who contributed and because of your generosity, we are now going to reach more people, in more places, than we ever have before. That's what this means. You've all helped make this happen."
In 2024, over 3,000 people in Australia took their own life. This is nine people every day.
65,000 attempt suicide each year, or over 170 each day.
Men are three times more likely to take their own life compared to women, and, broadly, rates are significantly higher in very remote communities compared to cities.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are over twice as likely to die by suicide, compared to non-Indigenous Australians.
Every dollar from campaign donations and merchandise— tape, hats, socks and stickers — sales go towards Goanna Academy's work.
13 YARN - 13 92 76
Kids Helpline - 1800 55 1800
Lifeline - 13 11 14
