Footy star fumes after claims he was put in rehab after being spotted ‘bleeding and disoriented’ on a plane – but admits he’s been put in a clinic three times previously
- Former NRL star Brett Finch has denied reports he was put into a rehab facility
- The 38-year-old was helped off a plane with a bleeding nose on the Gold Coast
- Finch denied the claims, saying he was on holidays with his family in Byron Bay
- The Fox League analyst has previously been to rehab three times before
Former NRL star Brett Finch has quashed claims he was put in rehab after he was spotted bleeding and disorientated on a plane on the Gold Coast.
The ex-Melbourne Storm player was believed to have sought help after he was spotted asleep with a bloodied and runny nose on a flight from Sydney to the Gold Coast in October.
However, Finch has denied the rehab claims, saying he has been on holiday in Byron Bay with his wife Elli and baby daughter Mackenzie Grace.
Former NRL star Brett Finch (pictured) has quashed claims he was put in rehab after an incident on a plane on the Gold Coast.
The ex- Melbourne Storm player was spotted asleep with a bloodied and runny nose (pictured) on a flight from Sydney to the Gold Coast in October.
‘My health’s fine and I haven’t been into any rehab,’ Finch told The Daily Telegraph. ‘It’s absolute crap.’
‘What are my employers supposed to think when this stuff gets reported? It’s wrong.’
Finch has long been candid about his struggles with mental illness, and previously opened up about hitting ‘rock bottom’ following his 2013 retirement from football.
He said he kept to himself for six months while he struggled with his mental demons and finding himself after the end of his playing career.
‘I had to realise I’m not going to get the highs I had in footy and for so long I was chasing that,’ Finch told The Matty Johns Podcast in September.
The Fox League analyst has been to rehab three times before, but insists he had been ill before the Gold Coast flight and wasn’t at his best.
‘My health’s fine and I haven’t been into any rehab,’ Finch (pictured with wife Elli) told The Daily Telegraph. ‘It’s absolute crap.’
‘I slept all the way and woke up disorientated. Everyone thinks the worst because of my past,’ Finch said.
Throughout his career, Finch played for the Sydney Roosters, Canberra Raiders, Parramatta Eels and finished his time on the field with the Melbourne Storm.
He then started working as a commentator on Channel Nine’s NRL Coverage.
He regularly appeared as a panellist on The NRL Footy Show, but departed the network at the end of 2016, citing mental health issues.
The following year he began working for Fox Sports.
In 2018 he married his girlfriend of five years Elli Johnston and the couple welcomed a baby girl earlier this year.