Meet the Rugby League stars on a mission to stop suicide

This trio of New Zealand-born Samoans are used to facing big hits in the world of Rugby League.

But now they're teaming up to take on a new challenge - to halt the alarming rate of UK suicides.

Sui Matagi, Jesse Sene-Lefao and Quentin Laulu Togaga'e were team-mates at Castleford Tigers when their weekly debriefs over coffee started to go beyond tactics and talk of injuries, and into the world of past trauma, depression, and dealing with life thousands of miles from home.

Opening up the conversation

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The trio set up a podcast to try and normalise the conversation amongst the Rugby League community - but are now taking it further with a series of mental health sessions, play opportunities and one-to-ones to help people become 'the best version of themselves'.

They've set up the Talk Your Walk Foundation to provide opportunities for all genders and ages, and want to use the power of Rugby League to bring the community on board.

Even though they're thousands of miles from their home country, they're passionate about saving lives here.

Rugby League making a difference

Quentin - known as Q - told our Mental Health Monday Podcast he was already seeing positive results.

He said: "We've had a lot of people come up and say 'just hearing you talk about that has given me the courage to move forward with my life.'

"'If I hadn't had heard that, I was on the verge of taking my life."

"Whenever we get feedback, the ones that hit the most are the ones that say we've saved their life.

"After our touch rugby sessions we have a coffee with all the parents and we've had two come up to us and say they were close to taking their own lives.

"That feedback is why we do it."

Quentin shares his own story with his groups, about how he fell into a depression during his playing career, and couldn't open up about it: "I had depression and anxiety, I couldn't even tell my wife, and I look back at all those years I was struggling and I also the number of people who passed away through suicide makes it a massive thing for us."

Find out more

The Talk Your Walk Foundation is looking to work with groups across the community, from children to adults of all ages, as well as people in rehabilitation.

They're on the look-out for local businesses to support their work and help it expand beyond 2025.

Find out more about Talk Your Walk.

More than 6000 lives are lost to suicide in the UK each year.

If you want to find mental health services, charities, and organisations where you live, check out what's available near you on the Hub of Hope