Life-changing stories shared at Trundle Central

Roberts played rugby league in a brutal era of the game. He rose through the ranks to play for NSW and Australia.

Legendary Coach Jack Gibson described him as the best front rower in the game when Roberts was only 25 years of age.

He has been named in the South Sydney dream team comprising of players from 1908 to the present and named in the best 25 players ever for NSW.

Roberts came out as gay in 1995 smashing existing stereotypes and becoming the first rugby league player in the world to do so. He has battled substance abuse and mental health not only surviving these troubled times but becoming a leader in his community and a powerful agent for attitudinal change.

Since retiring he has appeared on Dancing with the Stars, been a member of the Rugby League Judiciary. Roberts has had several acting roles the most recent being in the latest Mad Max Movie.

Greg Fisher grew up in privileged circumstances. A child from a Jewish family in Sydney he attended an elite school where he established several future business contacts.

At the top of his career, he managed a 400-million-dollar investment and development company. Fisher married and had a child like all good Jewish children do. During this time fighting he was struggling with his self-concept and accepting his sexuality.

Fisher became involved in the Sydney party drug scene starting with Cocaine and then ICE. This eventually resulted in drug dealing after losing his job. He needed to finance a habit and a previous lifestyle. Trouble with the law resulted and Fisher was sentenced to eight years jail for drug dealing and corporate fraud.

Upon release Fisher has established and managed not-for-profit charities helping some of the most vulnerable in our society. He has also forgiven himself and accepted his sexuality to become a strong proud gay man.

These men were invited to speak to the high school students at Trundle Central School because they have different stories, but each man demonstrates the struggle for self-acceptance, positive self-confidence and mental health, and the need for many to find a place of forgiveness for past mistakes.

Both men spoke to our students about surrounding themselves with supportive people and accepting forgiveness from loved ones when offered.

A constant message from both men is the need for the individual to contribute to a wider society.

This message to students may just stop yet another young person paying the ultimate price for believing they lack self-worth, resulting in suicide.

In my teaching career I have attended the funerals of 11 fine young people. The youth suicide rate in the Central West can only be describe as a national disgrace and tragedy.

Government agencies, communities and individuals all need to work to reduce the suicide pandemic in country areas now claiming more of our precious young people than road accidents in some communities.

In my 34 years in education, I have never seen the problem as big, and the response services so hard to obtain and maintain in country communities.