‘‘To be honest with you, he’s had a great love affair with football and maybe many times in his life, football’s been the thing that’s held him together. "Football’s been the thing that’s held him together": Wayne Bennett on Darius Boyd. Credit:Max Mason-Hubers ‘‘But right now, football’s not the thing that’s holding him together. It’s his health, and he realises that, and football is secondary to everything else.’’ On yet another dramatic day in the most turbulent season in the club’s history, Bennett indicated Boyd had been deeply affected by Alex McKinnon’s career-ending spinal injury and described him as a caring teammate who had never been comfortable having a public profile. After media reports surfaced Boyd was being investigated for an incident in which $1500 worth of damage was done to a room in a Hunter Valley resort he stayed at last Wednesday, the Knights issued a statement on Wednesday saying he had been admitted to a mental health facility suffering depression.

‘‘I’m pleased for Darius that he’s recognised that he’s obviously got a problem, it’s a self-admission one and he’s come to this conclusion himself, and he booked himself into rehab in Sydney this morning,’’ Bennett said after the team trained without the 27-year-old Queensland and Australian star. "‘I’m pleased for Darius that he’s recognised that he’s obviously got a problem": Wayne Bennett on Darius Boyd. Credit:Jonathan Carroll Bennett said he had coached other introverted players but ‘‘probably not as deep as him’’. Dressing room cameras captured Boyd crying at half-time of a game against the Roosters early in his first season at the Knights, supposedly frustrated by his and the team’s modest form.

‘‘Well, he is a terrific bloke and he does care, but he is introverted, and he’s never going to be the life of the party, but he likes to go to a party,’’ Bennett said. ‘‘That’s what introverts do – they sit in corners and they watch you have fun. ‘‘But he’s caring, he’s always giving of himself here with the players and friendships and all that so ... the public [persona] is one he’s struggled with. It’s just not something he’s comfortable with and he’s probably made a bigger issue of it than what it really is. ‘‘But hopefully through this process, it might bring him to another point where he can handle things a little bit better going forward.’’ Bennett said Boyd, who lived with McKinnon in Wollongong when they were teammates at the Dragons, said McKinnon’s ordeal had contributed to his depression.

‘‘I have no doubt it has, yeah,’’ the coach said. ‘‘It’s been part of the issue – I don’t say it’s the whole issue – but it’s been a part thereof. ‘‘Look, he’s got a wonderful group of friends here and he is highly regarded within the playing group, regardless of what you see on the outside and the image that he might project. ‘‘Within the playing group, he’s got a lot of friends here – really good friends – and his best friend is Alex McKinnon, there’s no doubt about that. ‘‘But everybody’s here for him and he knows that, so he’s got plenty of support.’’

Bennett said Boyd’s revelations about his mental health issues were unrelated to the hotel room incident or publicity about it. It is believed Boyd did not cause the damage but had contacted the hotel to offer to pay for repairs to a broken television set and a hole in a wall and carpet cleaning. Knights chief executive Matt Gidley said on Wednesday Boyd had been cleared of any wrongdoing. ‘‘Although no complaint was made, the club can confirm the matter has been resolved,’’ Gidley said. Bennett said Boyd was comfortable with the fact his condition has been made public.

‘‘I talked to him about that because I realised being here today was going to put it out there for everybody but he’s very comfortable with that,’’ he said. ‘‘He’s not trying to hide anything, so I said we’ll do it this way. Loading ‘‘There’s no lies, there’s no deceit, we all know about it, and he can get on with his life and he will do that. I’m quite confident about that. ‘‘He can recover from this and be recognised for the wonderful player that he is, and let us all understand him a little bit better that he’s had a few demons.’’