Gold Coast Titans players yesterday completed their first day of swapping footy boots for work boots as part of the initiative created by Head Coach Garth Brennan.
The entire squad is now balancing the next four days out in the workforce whilst maintaining their regular training after Brennan, along with the Welfare, Education and Commercial departments, put forward the idea to help players appreciate and give back to the community.
"They train hard, they're tough. There's no doubt about that. It's more understanding how good they do have it," Brennan said.
"They get to play the game that they love, they get paid very well to do it and they've got to understand that it doesn't come easy.
"It's a chance to get out of them a bit of appreciation about how good they've got it and also help them out beyond football."
Each of the 31 squad members have been placed throughout the region in different businesses to gain real-life experience about the working world.
"There's a lot of people, or most of the community work long hours and tough days and it's about these guys understanding that," Brennan added.
"Some of our guys in our squad have never worked a day in their lives. They've come from school, straight into rugby league systems. They've been a bit sheltered."
"You see players when they finish their career, you know, they fall into some depression and some mental health issues because they lose their structure they've had in their lives."
From landscaping to car-washing, not only are the players adding to the community that supports them, but they are also gaining a new perspective of a life after football.
"Whether these jobs are the ones they want to be doing after football... that's for them to decide but it's also for them to start thinking of beyond football and realising that football doesn't go on forever and help them with life after football."
