Joe Marler, the celebrated prop for England and Harlequins, has candidly shared his battle with depression, shedding light on what he describes as his “lowest point,” including moments affecting his relationship with his wife, Daisy.
His journey includes measures taken to enhance his mental well-being, marking a significant step in addressing mental health challenges within professional sports. Daisy keeps her personal life private and avoids the media spotlight.
“It wasn’t until 2018 when I pulled out of the England squad [and] officially retired because I thought ‘enough was enough’, and I was sort of at a low point and thought being part of the England rugby team and that sort of spotlight was an added pressure I didn’t need, and taking that away, I’d be alright.
“It didn’t make a difference. I was still struggling at home, still struggling with family life. We had two young kids and another one due, and I couldn’t work out what was going on.”
Marler added: “My lowest point ended up happening at home. I completely lost the plot and turned the house over and ran out on my wife, left her,
“She was seven months pregnant at the time. I just left her on the floor crying her eyes out. I just drove off not wanting to be here anymore.
“That was the moment where I was just like: ‘I need help. I need help’.
“So I did, I went and got help, went and saw a psychiatrist called Humphrey. I was like ‘I’m not comfortable doing this, even with someone called Humphrey’.
“And I got there, and what an incredible, lovely bloke he was. Spoke about a lot of things with him. He diagnosed me with depression, and I was like ‘yeah, okay, mate’.
He continued: “The more I delved into it, the more I realised I needed to open myself up. I needed to allow myself to experience these things in order to move forward,
“Since that point, I’m so glad of the things I’ve discovered, both about myself but also about the people around me, and the experiences have enabled me to enjoy life that bit more.
“Now I’ve got an understanding where mental health, to me, is very similar to my physical health. It’s just harder to measure. Physical health, you know when you’re run down, you can feel it.
“I was like ‘you can’t do that with your mental health’, but you can! You can. And it’s as important as your physical health. And now I do stuff to make my mental health be in a good place, as opposed to a bad place—which it still can do at times.”
Marler didn’t speak to teammate for 18 months, they just didn’t get on
England prop Joe Marler is never afraid of sharing an opinion or two – especially when it’s about someone he doesn’t particularly like.
#1. Sir Clive Woodward
Woodward tore apart Eddie Jones’ side during a webinar, slamming Marler and fellow prop Dan Cole for their behaviour in a press conference prior to the loss against South Africa back in November. This wasn’t the first time the 2003 World Cup-winning coach called out the prop.
After reading an article on the Rugby Pass website highlighting Woodward’s comments, he tweeted him directly, saying: “Change the record Sir Clive – you should be grateful you can ‘milk the cow’ for another 3 years.”
#2. Israel Folau
Over 1,000 days since Folau last played a professional match of rugby union, Marler’s old Twitter sparring partner made his return to the sport over the weekend.
The loose-head prop takes any chance he can to call out the former Wallabies fullback, who could soon represent Tonga, for his homophobic views.
In a series of tweets sent directly to Folau, Marler attached pictures and GIFs of men kissing, in a display of defiant humour which was praised by fellow players and LGBTQ fans alike.
Marler later named Folau in his dream team in a tongue-in-cheek fashion.
On selecting Folau as his fullback, Marler commented, “On the night out, after we had played our match on the Saturday, I’d take him out in Brighton to The Blue Oyster… a couple of clubs.”