Transcript

DUNCAN BELL:

I've had some dark times since retiring. It coincided with a divorce. It coincided with extremes of lack of finances, very close to being destitute and homeless. It was savage, absolutely savage. I just felt very isolated. I thought I had an exit plan from rugby. I had it all sorted out.

The one thing I didn't do enough of-- I thought I did, but I didn't-- was forging relationships and networking. So I know how it works. You know, a lot of the players, you get beaten up on the field for 80 minutes. The last thing you want to do is going to do corporate hospitality, or schmooze with the sponsors, or talk to anyone. Especially if you've just been beaten up, got an injury, or lost the game, it's the last thing you want to do, like a bear with a sore head. But they're the times we forged the best relationships, the massive majority of players will have to enter civvy street and get themselves a normal job after rugby. And trust me that is a difficult thing to do.

I would've spoken to the RPA. Maybe my foolish self-pride restricted me from doing so, or at least letting Rich and yourself and others know how bad things were. So the only two things probably I would change would speak to you more and I'd get myself a recruitment consultant. And you probably could have given me the some names for that. But I had 18 months of strife that I probably didn't need to go through. And that was the darkest point in my life.

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