Professional Sportsman

Cory Paterson was born on 14th July 1987 and is a rugby league footballer playing for the Newcastle Knights in the NRL. He is the proud father of Jax.
In 2009 Cory missed most of the season due to having major depression. “Cory Patterson’s battle with depression” article below was published in the Daily Telegraph on 24/04/09.
In 2010, Cory had overcome depression and was selected to play for the Indigenous All Stars. His story of recovery and hope “… Paterson wins battle with depression” was published in The age just 9 months later on 22/01/10!
With the right treatment and support this is possible for us all!
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Cory Paterson’s battle with depression
By Barry Toohey
From: The Daily Telegraph
April 24, 2024 11:50PM
AN EMOTIONAL Cory Paterson yesterday went public on his private battle with depression, revealing he has had suicidal thoughts and cried himself to sleep three weeks ago before Newcastle took on Manly.
It was fitting that the promising young Knights back-rower, who has become the latest sports star to seek professional help to battle the disease, made his announcement on Footy Jumper Friday – an event staged to help beyondblue raise awareness of depression and anxiety in Australia.
Paterson is currently seeing a psychologist, Frances Dunn, is on anti-depressant medication and is having further tests to ascertain if he is bi-polar.
His immediate future is up in the air but despite the admission, he hasn’t ruled out playing against Wests Tigers tomorrow.
“I’m probably 50-50. I want to play but if I’m not right, I’m not going to let my teammates down,” he said, adding that coach Brian Smith has been a huge support along with club CEO Steve Burraston and operations manager Warren Smiles.
“Everyone’s been great. I’ve been talking to Smithy every day about it for a little while now and he’s been helping me and been really supportive,” Paterson said.
He said he started to feel something was wrong two months ago.
“There was no trigger. Everything was just adding up. I wasn’t playing good, I was down on myself and I wasn’t sleeping. I was feeling really lonely but pushing those close to me away and wasn’t in the mood to be around anyone. When I was, I was just snapping at everyone. “Snapping at Sophie (girlfriend Sophie Thomson) for no reason and just getting angry and agitated. As the days rolled on, it just got worse and I was having silly thoughts.
“Neil (club doctor Neil Halpin) was the first person I went to because I knew I had to get some help.”
He pulled out of the game against Manly because of an ankle injury but his state of mind was also a factor. “I wasn’t feeling good. The night before the game, I cried myself to sleep and it’s not something I could control,” he said.
Teammate Adam MacDougall described him as “very courageous”. “It took a lot of guts to get up in front of us. We’ll all support him 100 per cent,” MacDougall said.
This article is on the Daily Telegraph Website at: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/corys-battle-with-depression/story-e6frexnr-1225703152597
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Excess kilos fall off fast as Paterson wins battle with depression
by Robert Dillon
January 22, 2025
THE old Cory Paterson is back, but he feels like a new man.
As he prepares for a season he hopes will resurrect his reputation as one of the NRL’s brightest young stars, Paterson revealed to The Herald yesterday he had stopped taking the medication he was prescribed last year to combat depression and had shed 13 kilograms in excess weight. The demons he battled, after he was diagnosed with clinical depression last April and missed almost half the season, appear to have been exorcised.
”Everything, on and off the field, is looking up for me,” he said.
Advertisement: Story continues below The towering 22-year-old felt confident he no longer needed to take anti-depressants. Instead he gains strength from his ”great family and great friends” and new fiancee Sarah Donaldson, to whom he proposed less than a month ago.
”I’m off everything now,” he said. ”It hasn’t really come up, to be honest. I’ve been the happiest I’ve been in a long time, on and off the field, and I’ve got great people around me.”
Having convinced himself and those close to him that he was he was in a positive head space, Paterson turned his attention to his physical condition.
As he battled his illness last year, a combination of medication and lack of training caused him to gain weight rapidly. When he returned to action after 11 games on the sidelines, he struggled for form and fitness. Now he is the leanest he has been since his teenage years. So lean that Newcastle’s training staff would prefer him to add a couple of kilograms of muscle.
”At my worst last year, I was probably about 113 kilo, and it wasn’t pretty,” Paterson said. ”Now I’ve dropped about 13 kilo and I’m really focused. ”It’s all starting to pay off for me, I guess … I think it’s helped a lot, not being on medication, but a lot of it’s come down to me being disciplined about what I eat.”
Asked what aspects of his diet he had improved, Paterson joked, ”I found salad.”
”Nah, I’m just a bit more conscious about what I’m eating.
”I think the whole thing with me is I’ve learned that I’ve got to work a lot harder to get to where I want to get to. I’ve really tried to train hard and eat well, and it’s probably the lightest I’ve been.”
The skilful back-rower has an ideal opportunity to unveil his streamlined physique next month when he represents the Indigenous team in the NRL’s inaugural All Star game. Having spent several games last season playing alongside amateurs for feeder club Lakes United, he now has the opportunity to team up with superstars such as Johnathan Thurston, Greg Inglis and Wendell Sailor.
”It’s going to be a big game and it’s a huge honour to be involved,” Paterson said. ”There’s going to be some great players playing in it on both sides, and I just can’t wait for it. It’s going to be a great experience.”
Knights coach Rick Stone said Paterson’s attitude had been ”terrific” throughout the pre-season and ”his confidence is well and truly up”.
”I’d think Pato is comfortable with where he’s at right now,” Stone said. ”He’s on top of his game and he’s been putting back-to-back training sessions together. You can see he’s enjoying it and he’s got that spring back in his step, which is great to see.”
This story is on The Age website at: http://www.theage.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/excess-kilos-fall-off-fast-as-paterson-wins-battle-with-depression-20100121-mog3.html

Reviewed January 2011