State of Mind: The skill of Offloading

The theme of this year’s Betfred Super League State of Mind round is “Offload”.

An offload is when a player holding the ball is tackled but passes the ball to a team mate before the tackle is completed. Offloading is not an easy skill to master, but time it right and you can achieve sensational results and your team will score some fantastic tries.

Offloading in life is not an easy skill to master, but when under pressure, if you time it right you can achieve great results and prevent a problem building or getting worse.

By offloading and telling others about your problem or concern, you can relieve the pressures and start solving the problem and build a winning mindset.

The Offload Programme is currently run in partnership between State of Mind, Rugby League Cares and the club foundations at Salford Red Devils, Warrington Wolves and Widnes Vikings.

Over the course of the 10-week ‘season of fixtures’, men build their own mental fitness, whilst having fun, in a relaxed atmosphere and develop coping strategies to challenge difficult situations and learn how to recognise when people close to them may need their support.

Mike Cooper, the Warrington and England prop forward, said: “You have to be able to talk about your feelings with someone. When I moved to Australia to play for St George-Illawarra a couple of years ago, it was a tough time and I couldn’t have got through it without my wife.

“There was a little bit of homesickness and anxiety about the challenge ahead but we got through it together using tactics like setting ourselves goals.”

You can find out more about the Offload programme by visiting: http://www.rugbyleaguecares.org/what-we-do/health-and-wellbeing/offload/what-is-offload/