WORDS Michael McVeigh PHOTO Peter Casamento

Sharing insights on building better relationships.

Retired AFL footballer Glen Manton says when he talks to students about life and relationships, he makes sure that they know he understands what they are going through.

‘Sometimes you need that external person to step in and say, people do know a little bit more about the world than you would believe them to’, he says.

As a guest speaker with Centacare’s Developing Healthy Relationships Program for Year 11 and 12 students in the Melbourne Archdiocese, Glen says his own life lessons are his best source of material.

‘I had a tumultuous time in my life’, he says. ‘I’m able to share that story with young people.’

Glen openly admits that, at 18, he was an arrogant young man who believed he knew everything he needed to know about the world. His football career began with Essendon, but at 20 he found himself beset by injuries and unable to earn a regular place in the side. His relationships with his parents at the time were a ‘disaster’. It was an offer from club legend Alec Epis that helped turn his career, and his life, around.

‘He told me I was a good footballer but nowhere near as good as I thought I was’, Glen remembers. ‘Then he offered me a chance to meet him in a park at 7am in the morning, and his parting words were “I’ll teach you to be a better person and a better footballer”.’

In 1995, he was picked up by Carlton in the pre-season draft, earning a place in their premiership team that year. As he blossomed as a player, his life also took a turn for the better off the field. He became a regular panelist on The Footy Show, becoming known for his refreshing and funny perspectives on the game. What has shone through in all his public experiences is his honesty and openness about himself.

‘I was once introduced by Eddie Maguire as “the very public Glen Manton” and I remember thinking isn’t that who I’m supposed to be?’ he says. ‘I’ve many chinks in my armour, but I’m prepared to expose them. I’m trying to grow as a person. I’m trying to be something more than I am today.’

The program’s coordinator, Mary Brown, says young people respond well to Glen’s openness. The issues he touches on—what it means to be a man/woman, pressures around drinking, drugs, girls, gender roles, and other issues around turning 18—are all very real to them.

The program holds seminars tailored to boys, girls, and mixed settings. The main topic is how students can build stronger friendships in their lives, developing skills like being interested in others, feeding positives to them, and connecting with them.
‘With the girls schools, if we’re just working with them by ourselves, we often do a program ‘I am woman’, and get them to think about what kind of women they are now, and what do they want to be’, says Mary.

Perhaps surprisingly to some, Mary says young people’s strongest role models are not generally celebrities and sports people, but family members.

‘The people who they admire are the real people in their lives’, she says. ‘We’ve just started advertising for parents evenings, and that’s what I want to feed back to them … you’re the one that inspires them.’

The mentoring Glen got from Epis has inspired him to help other young people find their way. In 1999, he founded Whitelion, supporting young people in the youth justice system. His message to young people is that there are three things a person needs in life: a strong understanding of who they are, good relationships, and an ability to communicate with others.

‘If you have those as your three cornerstones, I believe that you’re looking at a successful life, regardless of what your pursuit is’, he says.

Pictured: Glen Manton with students from St Joseph's College, North Melbourne.

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