- If you or someone you know needs support, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.
Rugby league great Braith Anasta has opened up about the devastating suicide of his father when he was just 15 years old – and says the trauma still stays with him decades later.
Speaking in the documentary In Pieces Together, Anasta reflected on the shock and confusion that followed his father’s death and the memory he says he will never be able to forget.
‘I lost my father when I was 15 years of age,’ he said.
‘He went to work one day. It was on a Sunday afternoon, which we’d usually go get fish and chips in Bondi and he just didn’t come home.’
Anasta recalled the moment his family discovered what had happened.
‘Then the hours went by, then my brother went to the workshop with my uncle and my cousin … found him hanging,’ he said.
Braith Anasta reveals father’s suicide at 15 changed his life forever and shaped his career path
Anasta says he buried grief after tragedy, focusing on football instead of processing emotional pain early
‘The worst moment of my life and unfortunately I can’t erase it from my mind.’
He said his father had been a loving parent who had built a strong family life before his sudden death changed everything.
‘As a family we had everything. My dad had provided us with a good life and lifestyle, a good upbringing. He was a great dad, madly in love with mum,’ Anasta said.
In earlier reflections on the Behind The Uniform podcast, Anasta explained how the tragedy hit him as a teenager and how he initially responded by shutting down emotionally and focusing entirely on football and goals rather than grief.
‘I got to 15 years of age and [life] hit a brick wall. My father committed suicide. From nowhere, at the time,’ he said.
He admitted he tried to carry on as if nothing had changed.
‘I was pretty angry. It was sickening, it haunts you forever,’ he said.
‘At the time I was so disciplined, I had goals and aspirations to be a professional golfer… I played in a tournament two or three days later. I moved on with my life. I thought just keep rolling.’
Former Bulldogs star admits unresolved trauma returned later in life after years of emotional suppression
Anasta says avoiding grief after his father’s death eventually caused deeper emotional challenges later in life
Anasta says becoming a father himself changed how he processes grief and emotional responsibility
But Anasta now believes avoiding the grief only delayed the pain.
‘You’ve got to deal with grief,’ he said.
‘If you totally push it to the side it’s going to come back at some stage. It’s not something you can push to the side. It’ll never go away.’
He said many men still struggle to express emotion or seek help, warning that silence can make things worse over time.
‘A lot of men can sort of push it to the side, think they can just power on,’ he said.
‘That doesn’t work.’
‘You’ve got to find someone who’s a mentor, to look up to, you need someone there,’ he added. ‘You can’t do it yourself.’
Anasta said becoming a father himself has changed his outlook and made him more focused on emotional presence and openness with his children.
The former Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and Australian representative said the loss of his father remains one of the most defining experiences of his life, but also one that has shaped how he tries to live and parent today.
If you or someone you know needs support, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.
