Troubled Harry O to miss Adelaide match
How Harry O’Brien and Collingwood must wish this was as simple as a bust-up with the coach.
Five days after intrigue surrounded O’Brien’s omission from the team to play Carlton, the AFL All-Australian utility returned to the club on Tuesday morning and made stunning revelations about his personal troubles.
“I’m going through issues that I sort of put in the past for a long time, including a long and very complicated history of sexual abuse,” O’Brien said.
“Suicide, depression, seeing someone get murdered, knowing who’d murdered that person and not being able to say anything because that person would probably murder you.”
O’Brien has spoken publicly before about some of the turmoil in his life, such as witnessing a murder in his native Brazil two years ago and the suicide of his stepfather in 2009.
It remains unclear whether O’Brien was referring to himself or people close to him on Tuesday morning when he mentioned issues such as depression, suicide and sexual abuse.
While O’Brien looked relaxed at Tuesday training, it is also uncertain when he will return to the team; he will definitely miss Friday’s match against Adelaide.
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O’Brien met coach Nathan Buckley on Monday and the player is out of Collingwood’s leadership group to help him focus on his personal issues.
“I get the impression everyone thinks he’s a basket case,” Buckley said.
“He has been through some things (where) I couldn’t imagine what that feels like.”
Within a couple of hours of O’Brien’s team omission last Thursday, it emerged that he also had an argument last week with Buckley.
The coach has repeatedly refused to go into the specifics of their disagreement, amid speculation if was sparked by an aside from Buckley about a teammate’s nickname.
Buckley is adamant the main reason O’Brien was left out of the side was a floating bone in an ankle.
O’Brien also had last weekend off with the club’s permission.
It emerged on Tuesday that O’Brien went to Sydney and stayed with friend Scott Dooley.
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The media widely reported he had gone to Port Douglas.
Asked when O’Brien would be back in the team, Buckley said: “I can’t give you an answer on that – it will be when he’s ready to go.
“I spoke to H just before I came in and he said he enjoyed being out there on the training track.
“I said ‘that’s because you’re good at footy, mate, and that’s what you’re here to do – be good at footy’.”
Buckley said he was amazed by the amount of speculation about O’Brien over the past few days.
“It’s nearly like there’s a car crash on the side of the freeway and you stop and you want to have a look at it,” he said.
Captain Nick Maxwell said O’Brien was on the upswing after dealing with those personal issues in recent months. “He is a lot happier at the moment than he has been for a long time.”
Pies president Eddie McGuire said the club would leave no stone unturned to help O’Brien.
“This is all about trying to do the right thing, to get him back,” he said.
“We have got the best doctors, the best psychiatrists, the best psychologists all working on the case.”
* Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 and MensLine Australia 1300 78 99 78.
