Work with the Starlight Foundation, Ronald McDonald House, Find Your Meet and Mater Little Miracles has all followed in the lead up to Thaiday’s Leukaemia Foundation endeavours. He has also been part of Channel Nine’s rugby league coverage team, admitting he needed to find something which filled the void left by his departure from the field. “Your identity is attached to the game so much. It’s your dream and ambition as a young kid to play professional sport, and you get the chance to do it, and then it’s kind of over in your 30s,” Thaiday says. “I think the charity component of what I do now in my life, it gives me drive for purpose for something in a greater good. It helps me ground myself and stay balanced in my life.” According to University of Queensland psychology expert Tarli Young, 40 per cent of retired athletes have suffered from depression and anxiety, leading her to develop the More Than Sport program to encourage sportspeople to expand their identities early in life. It is a struggle former Broncos’ hooker Ian Lacey reveals became apparent when several retired players joined him in launching the Arthur Beetson Foundation Future Immortals Tours.