The Newcastle Knights have released the following statement on the clubs official web site:
Newcastle Knights fullback Darius Boyd has been admitted to a mental health clinic in order to seek treatment for depression.
“We are ensuring Darius gets the best possible care and treatment at this time,” CEO Matt Gidley said on Wednesday.
“Depression is a serious illness in our society and we are pleased Darius has taken the first step in his recovery by acknowledging he needs help.
“Football is secondary at this point, it is important Darius’ focus is entirely on his treatment.”
There is no timeframe on Boyd’s return to football.
Media are requested to respect Boyd’s privacy at this time. The Club will provide any appropriate updates in consultation with Boyd.
Let’s all hope that Darius is getting the support he needs from the people around him right now.
I feel like I’ve defended Boyd all year in the face of very harsh criticism. Think about what Boyd had been dealing with in 2014…
His club isn’t going well and at one point he wasn’t getting paid for playing for the Knights. He was allegedly copping abusive text messages from the former owner of the club while not getting paid, and fans were getting into him about his form without knowing he wasn’t getting paid.
Then there was the tragic accident Alex McKinnon suffered that Boyd witnessed first hand. This is something I think we will hear more about over the coming years. It affected so many people in the game, the players on the field that saw that happen to their mate…we rarely talk about the impact it had on them.
The in the last couple of weeks Boyd had the drama over a journalist outside of the Queensland hotel who he didn’t want to talk to, people piling onto him over that, Wayne Bennett leaving the Knights which out a big question mark over his own career, then news coming about about an incident at a resort in the Hunter Valley which wasn’t much of a story at all…is it any wonder the bloke is feeling a bit down right now?
This is when Darius Boyd will find out who his real friends are. Not the ones that will just wish him all the best as he works through this, but the ones that go out of their way to do what they can for him.
I’ve said for a long time that he gets a lot of unfair criticism. He made a decision not to talk to the media, a decision that affects no one else, and he becomes an easy target because of it.
Hopefully the time away from the game will get him feeling right again. I for one wish him all the best.
