Nowhere to Hide

A revealing and candid account of former AFL footballer Tom Boyd's struggle with mental health.

Tom Boyd lived the dream of many young Australians. As the 2013 AFL number 1 draft pick, he was marked as a future superstar in his sport. Fame and money were guaranteed, all the more so when he returned home to Melbourne to join the Western Bulldogs on a record-breaking $7 million contract.

But success as a footballer came at a cost Tom wasn't prepared to pay. The intense scrutiny from media and the public added to the enormous expectations he placed upon himself, creating a toxic cycle of insomnia, anxiety and depression. Even being part of the Bulldogs' famous drought-breaking Premiership win in 2016, when Tom arguably played the greatest game of his career, could not fundamentally change the chronic mental health issues he was experiencing.

Tom decided to make one of the bravest calls of his life and walk away from the team he loved, from his hugely lucrative contract, from celebrity and adulation. He did it because he knew he was much more than the sum of these things, and that mental wellbeing was the one essential he could not ignore.

Nowhere to Hide is a compelling account of what it's really like to live in the world of elite football-with all its highs and lows. It's also an honest, clear-eyed memoir of mental illness-how it crept into Tom's life and how he overcame it. Tom Boyd's story is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the true meaning of resilience.

About the Author

Tom Boyd was an outstanding youth athlete, destined from childhood for a career in professional sports. At the age of eighteen, he joined the GWS Giants as the AFL's number 1 draft pick and was later recruited to play for the Western Bulldogs on a record $7 million contract. In 2016 Tom was instrumental in the Bulldog's drought-breaking Premiership win, playing arguably the greatest game of his career and helping steer the team to ultimate victory.

However, in 2019, following years of struggle with depression and anxiety, Tom made the decision to walk away from the AFL, leaving the fame and success of football behind him for a happier life. Tom is now a public speaker and mental health advocate. Nowhere to Hide is his first book.