Kicking corona to the curb
Vic Health has partnered with AFL and AFLW to produce a series of video vignettes highlighting common sense health and safety advice during the coronavirus lockdown.
The miniseries features footy players Neville Jetta (Melbourne), Katie Brennan (Richmond), Taylor Adams (Collingwood), Angus Brayshaw (Melbourne), Emma Kearney (North Melbourne) and Steph Chiocci (Collingwood) handing down tips for washing hands, keep physically active at home and staying connected with family and friends.
VicHealth CEO Sandro Demaio praised the Aussie football community for helping fans and the broader community underlining the importance of playing by the rules and staying home.
“We want to ensure all Victorians know how important hygiene and physical distancing are for slowing the spread of coronavirus, but also the importance of keeping active and checking in with our family and friends regularly to protect our mental wellbeing,” she said.
It is not the only forum where footy stars have been playing a more active role in providing advice (and entertainment) for fans.
In a new Q and A series from 100Words North Melbourne forward Mason Wood shares his struggle with self-isolation in the early weeks of the pandemic. “We had little to no structure around what we were doing,” he tells 100words founding member Craig Turton (Turts).
“It was just let’s wait out this week and see what’s happening. That’s was what provided the most stress for me.”
Having a lot of time to himself put Mason in a bad headspace, but he soon developed a structure and routine to his day, driven by North Melbourne FC.
“In week two the club’s brought in really good structure. We’ve got to finish all the training that we have for the day before 12, make sure that’s all ticked off. We’ve got different things that were put in throughout the day to make sure we’ve got some structure.
“I feel like the days are getting more and more productive.”
Mason said small care groups within the team can club hold each other accountable. There’s a lot of small chats set up throughout the day: a coffee club, a study club and even a movie club.
“Just chatting to somebody does help you get through the day. 80% of our day is chatting shit,” he says.
Angus Brayshaw also has an Instagram account - @barbieonion – focused entirely on prepping and cooking onions (a must for those tuning into Mr Perfect’s regular Sunday online BBQ meetups). The segment includes guest appearances from other footballers and a fact about onions, for example from Episode 1 – Did you know the Ancient Egyptians worshipped onions? Especially Pharaohs who liked to be buried with them because the circular shape of the onions symbolised eternity!
