Earlier today, one of the AFL’s most well-known journalists decided to have a crack at a player battling depression, needless to say, it did not go down well.

Following a tweet showing Collingwood player Alex Fasolo at training after his decision to step back from the game to deal with mental health issues, Herald Sun chief football reporter Mark Robinson decided to tweet: “Good drugs – Clinical depression on Tuesday, training Thursday.”

Wow. I have no words. We take one step forward with mental health, then three steps back with comments like this. So naive @Robbo_heraldsun pic.twitter.com/cE3GDgjST2 — Melissa Haase (@melissa_haase) June 1, 2017

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The tweet, which I can only imagine was attempted humour, lasted only 15 minutes before being deleted among a wave of criticism.

“Very poor form,” one user wrote.

“Seriously? Please – understand depression before taking a shot on it. It’s nothing sad – it’s not having a bad day. It’s chemical,” another replied.

Collingwood had previously stated in their press release that Fasolo would continue to train as normal, but it appears that fact slipped the mind of someone who would consider himself the top AFL journalist in the country.

“He will continue to train and prepare for football with the expectation of a swift return to playing,” the statement read.



Robinson’s comments are nothing new, but the feedback from regular punters was fantastic to see.

They immediately called him on it.

After the backlash Robinson apologised for the tweet.

Insenstive tweet about alex Fasolo. Apologies to Alex and the fans. Wrong choice of words — Mark Robinson (@Robbo_heraldsun) June 1, 2017

A football player took the brave step of admitting he needs help. A decision that many men, women and children don’t make because of societal pressure or the belief that they can’t reach out.

But he was met with open arms by the public, with many sending messages of support to the small forward. It was amazing to see and hopefully will mean more players in professional codes seek help if they need it, despite the dunderheaded calls of a few.



Depression is something that can strike anyone. Like any other disease, it knows no race, gender or age. It is a sad fact that a significant proportion of us will suffer from it at some point in our lives.

I have suffered from this in the past, and it took years to admit even to myself that I needed help. What Fasolo did took a lot of courage, a lot more than a journo who takes pot shots on social media.

Good luck in your recovery Alex, I hope you come back to the long and successful career your talent has shown you can have.