Farrell takes a break

[Mikey Brown]

Yep. We’re all guessing to a degree. There also seem to be a lot of theorising it is one particular factor rather than the many layers of responsibility and (newly found) scrutiny/abuse piling up.

Whatever you think of his skillset or tackle technique, he has been lauded as “the one who drives standards” and “trains at test match intensity every day” etc etc for 10 years now, with only a couple of injury periods and bans.

Don’t get me wrong I’ll still laugh every time he gets thrown on the floor attempting a big hit, but it must be mentally exhausting.

[fivepointer]

Why complicate it? He’s about as mentally tough as they come, by all accounts, but he wants a break having spent several years under huge amounts of pressure. That’s it.

Of course there’s going to be a load of bullshit media spin because they’re a big part of the problem, but it seems very reasonable and may serve him very well for the last few years of his career to get a bit of time away from it.

I don’t see any reason he should say he’s retiring if he’s not intending to.

Dont see anything wrong in a player wanting to step away for a while to recharge and to spend a bit of time out of the media glare. Farrell is full on and pretty much ever present with England so standing down for a while seems a perfectly reasonable option.
I'm sure there are a number of reasons for the decision, its not just about getting booed or people saying unpleasant things online.

[Puja]

I do not think this is the same as a physical injury. Nobody carries on playing for his club with that. A full break from rugby on mental health grounds would also have been different.

If, and I stress, if, the booing upset him that badly what will he suffer when he returns to the international fold? That, for me, is the crunch. Regardless of whether he is a good/bad player/fly half/captain/tackler, he is likely to make things worse for himself with this decision in the long run.

The worst manager I ever had in work took me for a one-to-one meeting one day when I was near the breaking point of my mental health and asked me if there was a problem. I explained that I was struggling and finding things very difficult right now, to which his response was, "Well, if you're not able to cope with stress, maybe you should consider whether this is the right job for you. Because things are always going to be stressful and it won't get better."

Unsurprisingly, this was not the advice that I needed at the time. I kept fighting on and a few months later something happened in my personal life that finished me off and a different manager told me that I wasn't allowed to take the morning off to deal with it and then make up the hours later in the week, he needed me to go to the doctors and get signed off properly, because I was Not Okay. I ended up taking 4 months off and that second manager probably saved my life.

I am still in that job and now very successful at it*. Although my mental health is still far from perfect and does require managing, I am coping fine with probably more stress than I was dealing with back then - as it turns out, the problem was not that I "wasn't able to cope with stress" or that I needed to resign from that job, it was that I was seriously ill. I have now taken the actions that were needed to recover and I can do the job again.


It's also incredibly reductive to say, "Well, if there was something really wrong with him, then he wouldn't be playing for Saracens." Quite apart from the fact that we absolutely should fucking not be implying that someone with a mental health problem is just being a bit sensitive and can't have a real problem otherwise he'd be doing X, I don't see any inconsistency in reducing work responsibilities to remove the higher stress, higher intensity duties temporarily while they get better. Some people benefit from a complete break, some people benefit from trying to keep going as much as they can but being sensible about reducing their workload.

Puja


*Sadly, the first manager is also still at the company and has been promoted up the ranks. The second one was not valued very highly as he wasn't ruthless and driving enough to produce the figures and has since left.

[Oakboy]

Puja, I understand that and empathise. If, this break does Farrell good and he re-emerges his previous self, I'd happily admit I was wrong. I fear, though, purely from his own well-being point of view, that IF it was a fan/crowd issue that hurt him so much mentally that he will not find it easy to return - because some fans will see it as some sort of favourtism that will make them more critical.

I said it was not the same as a physical injury ONLY in respect of being fit to play for his club. If I did not make that clear, I apologise.

Maybe, fans will give him credit for the way he has done this. Part of me hopes they will. The other part of me suspects they won't.

[p/d]

After last week, it looks like his first step was to hand over kicking duties

One step at a time...................

I am really looking forward to the 6n's now.

[Oakboy]

I am really looking forward to the 6n's now.

That will be a fairly broad reaction, I suspect.

[Mikey Brown]

Is Genge still next in line for the captaincy with Lawes (and Tom Curry) out or will Ford take over?

[FKAS]

I do not think this is the same as a physical injury. Nobody carries on playing for his club with that. A full break from rugby on mental health grounds would also have been different.

If, and I stress, if, the booing upset him that badly what will he suffer when he returns to the international fold? That, for me, is the crunch. Regardless of whether he is a good/bad player/fly half/captain/tackler, he is likely to make things worse for himself with this decision in the long run.

The worst manager I ever had in work took me for a one-to-one meeting one day when I was near the breaking point of my mental health and asked me if there was a problem. I explained that I was struggling and finding things very difficult right now, to which his response was, "Well, if you're not able to cope with stress, maybe you should consider whether this is the right job for you. Because things are always going to be stressful and it won't get better."

Unsurprisingly, this was not the advice that I needed at the time. I kept fighting on and a few months later something happened in my personal life that finished me off and a different manager told me that I wasn't allowed to take the morning off to deal with it and then make up the hours later in the week, he needed me to go to the doctors and get signed off properly, because I was Not Okay. I ended up taking 4 months off and that second manager probably saved my life.

I am still in that job and now very successful at it*. Although my mental health is still far from perfect and does require managing, I am coping fine with probably more stress than I was dealing with back then - as it turns out, the problem was not that I "wasn't able to cope with stress" or that I needed to resign from that job, it was that I was seriously ill. I have now taken the actions that were needed to recover and I can do the job again.


It's also incredibly reductive to say, "Well, if there was something really wrong with him, then he wouldn't be playing for Saracens." Quite apart from the fact that we absolutely should fucking not be implying that someone with a mental health problem is just being a bit sensitive and can't have a real problem otherwise he'd be doing X, I don't see any inconsistency in reducing work responsibilities to remove the higher stress, higher intensity duties temporarily while they get better. Some people benefit from a complete break, some people benefit from trying to keep going as much as they can but being sensible about reducing their workload.

Puja


*Sadly, the first manager is also still at the company and has been promoted up the ranks. The second one was not valued very highly as he wasn't ruthless and driving enough to produce the figures and has since left.

Glad to hear you're doing better now Puja.

Toxic work cultures are the number one reason for under performing employees in my experience.

Saracens and the RFU allowing Farrell to take a period of time out of the game in order to help his long term mental health is exactly the right thing to do. He could quite easily continue for a few years yet, much better to look after him in the short term from a business sense as well for it generally being the right thing to do.

[p/d]

I am really looking forward to the 6n's now.

That will be a fairly broad reaction, I suspect.

retained by Saracens as marquee player..........

I'm no cynic

[p/d]

Saracens and the RFU allowing Farrell to take a period of time out of the game in order to help his long term mental health is exactly the right thing to do.

Are they?

[Puja]

Is Genge still next in line for the captaincy with Lawes (and Tom Curry) out or will Ford take over?

I still maintain that giving Itoje the captaincy could be transformational, both for him and the team, but I would imgine it's likely between Genge and Ford.

Puja

[Banquo]

Is Genge still next in line for the captaincy with Lawes (and Tom Curry) out or will Ford take over?

I still maintain that giving Itoje the captaincy could be transformational, both for him and the team, but I would imgine it's likely between Genge and Ford.

Puja

reputedly not wanted by Itoje.

[Banquo]

Saracens and the RFU allowing Farrell to take a period of time out of the game in order to help his long term mental health is exactly the right thing to do.

Are they?

still playing for Sarries...

[p/d]

Is Genge still next in line for the captaincy with Lawes (and Tom Curry) out or will Ford take over?

I still maintain that giving Itoje the captaincy could be transformational, both for him and the team, but I would imgine it's likely between Genge and Ford.

Puja

reputedly not wanted by Itoje.

plus hard to do from France

[Banquo]

I still maintain that giving Itoje the captaincy could be transformational, both for him and the team, but I would imgine it's likely between Genge and Ford.

Puja

reputedly not wanted by Itoje.

plus hard to do from France

ah oui, c'est vrai.

[p/d]

reputedly not wanted by Itoje.

plus hard to do from France

ah oui, c'est vrai.

mais reste à confirmer......

......cela permettra à Mellsblue de revenir poster

[Banquo]

plus hard to do from France

ah oui, c'est vrai.

mais reste à confirmer......

......cela permettra à Mellsblue de revenir poster

Sacre Millebleu

[FKAS]

Saracens and the RFU allowing Farrell to take a period of time out of the game in order to help his long term mental health is exactly the right thing to do.

Are they?

I may have misread but thought they were allowing him time away from the club and training over that period so he could be with his family. I assume there's PRC games and some as of yet unannounced friendlies to come over the 6N period and that he wouldn't be around for those either.

[Puja]

Is Genge still next in line for the captaincy with Lawes (and Tom Curry) out or will Ford take over?

I still maintain that giving Itoje the captaincy could be transformational, both for him and the team, but I would imgine it's likely between Genge and Ford.

Puja

reputedly not wanted by Itoje.

Huh. That does surprise me, but fair enough if true.

Puja

[Oakboy]

Is Genge still next in line for the captaincy with Lawes (and Tom Curry) out or will Ford take over?

I still maintain that giving Itoje the captaincy could be transformational, both for him and the team, but I would imgine it's likely between Genge and Ford.

Puja

reputedly not wanted by Itoje.

Odd that. I thought he was a very successful international captain at age grade level. Is my memory screwed?

[chris18501]

A lot of very hypocritical comments on SM generally today including this site

[Which Tyler]

A lot of very hypocritical comments on SM generally today including this site

Here?

Bear in mind the huge difference utter absence of hypocrisy in A] supporting someone who's looking after their mental health, and B] criticising that same person for their rugby playing, or even disliking the public persona of that person.

[chris18501]

Criticism of rugby playing is fair enough but there have been many posts on this, and indeed most sites over the past months and years that have been overly personal and OTT in my opinion.

I am not singling out this site. Far from it! But neither is it immune.

[Banquo]

A lot of very hypocritical comments on SM generally today including this site

Here?

Bear in mind the huge difference utter absence of hypocrisy in A] supporting someone who's looking after their mental health, and B] criticising that same person for their rugby playing, or even disliking the public persona of that person.

I've been as 'vocal' as anyone, but its never been a 'personal' thing, always about his play. I'm afraid criticism of play comes with pro territory (and amateur tbh).

(though, when I tried to second guess myself, I couldn't do a simple search including Farrell as a key word....too 'common a word' on the board!)

[p/d]

I'm indifferent to the whole thing. If he wants to take time out from the international scene and concentrate on his club then that is his choice to make. It is hardly a story that will change my view of him as a player.