ON WEDNESDAY, Geelong Football Club issued a statement concerning the death of former Geelong and St Kilda footballer Jeff Fehring. It began: "On behalf of Jeff Fehring's family, we sadly announce that Jeff tragically took his own life on 25th July 2008 as a culmination of drought and depression."

I don't know a lot about life on the land. Certainly not like the people who live it. But I do know the character of the land is changing around us and while there may be people who have thought through the implications of that, I think most of us would prefer not to think about it at all. So we talk about other things.

In the city, we equate what is commonly referred to as "the drought" with stage 3A water restrictions and when we can and cannot water our gardens. It can mean so much more than that to people living on the land in places their families have lived for generations so that years of stories surround them. When they leave the land, they close the gate on all that, too. Then, for young men in the country, this thing called the future stares them in the face with hard, empty eyes. Two years ago, during that terrible summer of fire we had in this state, I spent time in the Wimmera. In one town, I was told of young men selecting the tree they were going to crash their cars into.

I also saw the role that football plays in keeping communities together. That sounds like a cliche to city ears but out there, a spirit of community is what the net is to a person on the high trapeze. It's what catches you when you fall. Last year, I did a story on the Avoca footy club. Its secretary, Geoff Calder, told me an afternoon at a country footy match "is worth a thousand visits to a shrink". He was one of those people you meet in the country who are giving blood to keep their footy clubs afloat. There ought to be a Brownlow for them.

I also met John "Jumbo" Sudholz. Jumbo played for South Melbourne the last time they were any good before the club was shipped to Sydney. He was an aggressive big forward and smart with it. "No one pushed me around," he said with a big grin when we met. Jumbo's troubles had not eliminated his smile but once he started talking, he didn't stop. Jumbo had decided to come out about his depression.

Jumbo said if a farmer felt depressed on a Saturday afternoon, he should go into town, pay a $5 green fee at the local bowls club, have a game and a beer afterwards. "Have a bit of fun. Otherwise, you spend the afternoon in the shed spending $150 building a gate when you've got no stock to close it on." He advised any farmer with depression to communicate. "Tell your wife, tell your mother, tell your father, tell everyone."

The point of the story is not that Jumbo was weak. On the contrary, "Jumbo" was an old bull, strong and independent in his ways. When he was 15 and he played for his home town of Rupanyup against arch-rival Murtoa, he took on the Murtoa captain-coach and ended up wrestling with him on the other side of the fence.

Jumbo played for South Melbourne when Norm Smith was coach and it had champions such as Bob Skilton and Peter Bedford. "Playing elite sport gives you confidence". After he finished playing footy in the country — he retired after a tribunal refused to believe his version of an incident — he became a voice in local farmers' organisations, leading marches and confronting politicians.

He said it was during the drought of the early 1980s when depression first got him. He had to shoot 450 of his sheep and slit the throats of his lambs. He lay awake at night. For the first time in his life, he didn't know what to do. He hid his depression for six years until one day an uncle found him weeping in the shearing shed.

On Thursday, Jeff Fehring's brother Rod was quoted as saying of Jeff that "the drought followed him". It's a haunting image. Jeff Fehring was 53. I didn't know Jeff Fehring personally. Like most footy followers, what I remember about him is the goal he kicked from backward of the centre for the Saints (off three paces, if you don't mind) at Moorabbin in 1981. It vies in the imagination with Malcolm Blight's kick after the siren to sink Carlton for the Kangas from the same period.

On behalf of footy followers generally, I don't think anyone has said farewell to Jeff Fehring better than the person who posts under his name on the Big Footy website: "Terrible news. He was way too young to die. Obviously I chose my nom de plume after him. His was scarcely a memorable career, but it was punctuated by one moment of absolute brilliance. Not unlike St Kilda of the 1980s. Mostly forgettable, but with the odd fantastic highlight.

"Unlike Blighty's kick, which didn't occur near any markings, it is easy enough to go to the ground and step it out even now. No one will (ever) be able to say that the length has been exaggerated. A truly awesome kick. Rest in peace, Jeff. May that magnificent south-wester be at your back ever more."

For information on anxiety and depression, visit www.beyondblue.org.au or call the beyondblue info line on 1300 22 4636 (local call).