WARNING: This article discusses suicide.
Owen Craigie was a teenage Rugby League prodigy.
The only player to make the Australian Schoolboys team three years straight.
"One game that stood out for me, we were the best school team in the area ... like the Yowies, we were stacked," explains Dean Widders on NITV's Feeding The Scrum.
"We got beaten 48-40, and he scores 46 points."
There are likely hundreds of similar stories from those days about the Gomeroi man affectionately known as 'the Big OC'.
Descending from the strong Rugby League bloodlines of the Blair family, it was in the small Northern Tablelands NSW town of Tingha that Craigie learned his craft.
The town of approximately 600 people has since become now synonymous with other NRL identities Preston Campbell, Nathan Blacklock and Bevan French.
"We had no phones or anything. We just went rabbiting, hunting and playing touch footy .. football gave us hope," he said.
"We had nothing to do there. The school was twenty-five kilometres away in Inverell. If we missed the bus, we run home or walk home. It's a long walk.
"So when we get to football and run 100, it's nothing to us."
Owen Craigie in his early days as a Newcastle Knight in the 1990s. Source: News Corp
To the steel city
While blitzing at schoolboy level, Craigie signed his first professional rugby league contract with Newcastle Knights in the early 1990's, when he was just 17, and bought a house.
“I was in Tingha and they said we’ll sign you now for $200,000,” he said.
“Mum and dad were crying because we hadn’t seen that kind of money.
“I took the money, went down to National Australia Bank, put it into an account and bought a house.”
The freakish talent enjoyed success at the Knights, including the famous last seconds win over Manly in the 1997 ARL Grand Final.
After leaving the club two years later, he had stints at the Wests Tigers, the Rabbitohs and Widnes in the English Super League.
When he retired in 2005, things got tough.
Craigie has previously spoken of how he turned to drugs, alcohol and gambling, and said he lost an estimated $2 million to his addiction.
Owen Craigie, Dean Widders and James Roberts yarning up on NITV's Feeding The Scrum. Source: NITV
The dark past
And three years ago, he said he entered the darkest phase of his life.
“I was a menace … I was living life in the fast lane 24/7," he said.
“The people I loved the most are the people I pushed away.
“When I needed help for my mental health, my addictions, nine out of 10 people ran – they ran for the hills.
“My wife left. She had every reason to leave – I put her through hell.”
He revealed to Newcastle masthead The Herald that in 2019 he was about to take his own life, but was grateful that a phone call he made to former teammate Matthew Johns was answered.
"He just said ‘where are you, pull over’. So I pulled over near Cooks Hill Surf Club and then Kurt Gidley rings me. He says ‘mate, I hear you’re in a bad way and I said ‘I am’," he told The Herald.
"He took my call you know and thank god he took that call.”
Owen is now chasing the energy with a movement to tackle mental health. Source: Instagram: Owen Craigie
A bright future
Craigie went through rehabilitation, and says he's now been able to recover.
“I am a different person than I was three years ago … I see my kids now. Life’s good. I am working on a couple of businesses.”
Craigie said his biggest achievement over the past three years is that he has “found himself”.
“I have mates that couldn’t,” said Cragie, who’s now determined to help those in the community who face similar challenges.
He has just opened a gym; his charity, the Big OC Foundation, and his Chase the Energy initiative both aim to help people who’re battling addictions and mental health challenges.
“My foundation helps people from all walks of life and kids as young as 10 – 10-year-old boys and girls that have been in isolation and lockdown, fighting demons every day.
“Some of the stories I can’t tell because they’re too deep and personal," he said.
“I am passionate about [helping them] because I want to help the next Owen Craigie.”
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 31 per cent of Australian Indigenous adults reported “high or very high” levels of psychological distress in 2018-19, up from 27 per cent in 2004-05.
Craigie said social media is one of the contributing factors to the mental health crisis.
“When I came through the ranks, there was no social media. We didn’t care how many followers or likes we had,” he said, adding online bullying is leading to suicidal ideation among young people.
Craigie said financial literacy is one of the most effective tools in safeguarding the future of young First Nations people.
“One thing I would go back and tell people is go and study financial literacy," he said.
“Teach kids about the finances of the world ... financial literacy is the way the world works.
“Rich Dad, Poor Dad is a good book – I am going to teach my kids about it [and the importance of being] happy.
"Happiness is the key because you can’t buy happiness.”
If you or someone you know isn't feeling well, please reach out to 13 YARN on 13 9276, Lifeline on 13 11 14 or contact your local Aboriginal Medical Service.
