The Peacemaker

ALAN McIndoe can only chuckle at his metamorphosis. While many retired rugby league stars are content to put their feet up or stay true to their blue-collar roots by running a pub, McIndoe is getting in touch with his spiritual side.

If there is an individual who embodies FOGS’ ethos on helping the community, it is McIndoe. A veteran of nine Origin matches for the Maroons, the speedy winger renowned for his finishing prowess is now putting the finishes touches to others in need.

He calls himself a life coach. Based in hometown Emerald, he runs his own personal-development business and was only too happy to help when enlisted by FOGS to work with indigenous youth.

“This year I helped FOGS with some Aboriginal employment opportunities and I’m so proud to be a part of the organisation,” said McIndoe, who played 163 top-grade games for Penrith and Illawarra, scoring 91 tries.

“Initially, Tosser Turner kicked FOGS off thinking, ‘Well, we need an old boys club’, but what the organisation is doing now is truly profound.

“They are coming into some political issues on a different tangent and it’s one that is open minded, open hearted and true.

“They are an open door FOGS and they’ve done so many wonderful things to help former players and the community at large.”

McIndoe never imagined he would become a life coach. The first Illawarra Steelers player to represent Australia in 1988, the 45-year-old attended what he thought was a wealth creation seminar five years ago and walked away with a new perspective on life.

“When you retire from football, everything changes. You go from being this athlete and then there’s this emptiness,” McIndoe explains.

“There was a void in my life. I was searching for more out of my life and I went to a seminar that I thought was about wealth creation and it was actually about self development.

“It was inspirational. I fell into the journey quite by accident and I’ve soared with it.

“I thought if I can help myself, then I can help others, be it an individual, a family or a workplace. It can be someone with cancer or kids with an ailment. It’s a very satisfying and rewarding part of the job.

“I assist people in finding a more peaceful way of being, to free themselves of the hustle and bustle, the stress and the illness they’re encountering. It’s not your mainstream stuff, it’s very different to normal counselling, some of it is very spiritual and it grounds you. 

“I’m not trying to make people hippies, there is a real world out there, but it’s appreciating life without all the hassles that can get in our way.”

McIndoe’s dream is to implement his programs in schools and Aboriginal communities. Only now is he realising the impact his success as a FOG can have on those around him.

“I once felt unworthy of playing for Queensland and Australia, I didn’t think I was as good as other guys, but I’m proud of what I’ve done and I think it can be a vehicle to help others,” he said.

“We either have the choice to get busy living or get busy dying. We get so caught up in the day-to-day stuff that we don’t really enjoy who we are and what we do and that’s where I try and help out.

“I’m desperate to have some development programs into schools and Aboriginal communities.

“I think it’s important for our youth to be emotionally stable.”

But rugby league still beats proudly in McIndoe’s heart. The local footy ground in Emerald is named after him and he is playing an ambassadorial role in Central Queensland’s ambitious push to play in the NRL in 2013.

“I was a sceptic at first, I thought it would be another 10 years before this happened. But after speaking to the CQ people, I truly believe this region can support an NRL team,” he said.

“The NRL has to give CQ a chance … the development opportunities for the game are enormous.”