Former Wasps Star Speaks Out About Alcohol Abuse

Over the last few years a number of stars have lifted the lid on their problems with alcohol abuse and in recent days Wallabies legend Kurtley Beale has spoken about his battles with the substance.

The Australia star, who had a spell with Wasps in 2016, has spoken about the dark time in his life around a decade ago, that saw him get into fights with teammates and how he used his time in alcohol rehab for personal growth. 

It was just before the Lions tour that saw him take action for his problems, after an alcohol-fuelled fight with teammates Gareth Delve and Cooper Vuna, following defeat for the Melbourne Rebels against the Sharks.

The fight came as tensions were high and captain of the Rebels, Delve, asked Beale to put a shirt on when arriving back at the team hotel.

Speaking in a documentary on Australian network Stan Sports, Beale said of the incident, “I made a bit of a porkchop of myself and absolutely deserved every sanction and everything like that. It was the time there where things weren’t going right for me. I had to get help. With the support going back to my pillars, they pretty much said, maybe let’s go down this route and try find yourself a bit. It was pretty tough.”

That led the now 33-year-old into rehab where he used that time to reconnect with his identity, that he believed he had lost.

He eventually entered recovery and was reselected for the Australia side that took on the Lions, playing a starring role and seeing his career go from strength-to-strength following that period.

He played a big role in the Wallabies run to the Rugby World Cup Final in 2015 and is hoping to make the side next year for his fourth World Cup.

It’s a story of success and how you can overcome addiction and adversity to bounce back. However, he’s one of a number of players who have now come out and spoken about alcoholism, with Carl Haymen, who last year announced he’d been diagnosed with early-onset dementia, also speaking out about his problem with alcohol in recent years, shortly after retirement.

It’s clear more needs to be done to protect players, many of whom turn to alcohol to deal with the pressure or pain of injuries and with another player coming out and talking candidly about it, the pressure will turn to the authorities to offer more support to the stars of the modern game.