Being wiped out for five days on booze and prescription drugs was the desperate wake-up call that ultimately saved Greg Inglis’s life.

Now the rugby league great and Indigenous icon is making it his “everyday” mission to save others and cut suicide rates, the leading cause of death among Australians aged 15 to 44.

Inglis this week launched the second year of his Goanna Academy’s Stick With It campaign, aimed at shining a light on mental health struggles during the NRL’s round 22 and round five of the NRLW.

The former Golden Boot recipient as rugby league’s world player of the year came up with the initiative following his own challenges in retirement.

Inglis endured two stints in rehab after being diagnosed with bipolar II disorder, depression and anxiety two years after hanging up the boots in 2019.

“It was pretty bad, where there’s five days in my life I don’t remember - alcohol, prescription drugs,” Inglis told AAP.

“(Rehab was) pretty intense, hardcore. But, at the end of the day, it’s worth it. I’m living, breathing.

“I’ve got a really good support network, a good bunch of friends and people that I realise were there for me.”

Inglis achieved everything the game can offer, including 39 Tests for Australia, a World Cup triumph, 10 State of Origin series wins for Queensland, a premiership with South Sydney and two grand final victories for Melbourne.

Yet he was “lost” in retirement.

“Wayne Bennett actually told me this — it’s like you’ve got to stick to some kind of normality and routine,” Inglis said.

“And I didn’t understand that because rugby league is your everyday life. You live it, you do it every day, and I didn’t really understand what he said until I was waking up unmotivated, not sure, never had a plan.

“I had an idea of what I wanted to do, but I wasn’t sure of how to go about it.

“So when I retired, I was a bit lost and never really saw what he said, what he meant by what he said until I went through it.”

When the penny dropped, Inglis established the Goanna Academy, Australia’s first Indigenous-owned, preventative mental health organisation.

The 39-year-old and his team visit schools and local communities, especially regional and Indigenous ones, to share his own story and teach young people coping skills.

“So we go around and talk about time management, your routine, try to stick to a daily routine as much as you can and create good habits,” Inglis said.

“We’re not a crisis organisation. We’re not psychiatrists. We’re not doctors.

“But we provide tools. We have people on board that have lived experiences so they can talk about their own personal challenges.

“And it’s just about breaking the barriers down and the stigma surrounding mental health and having a normal conversation about it.

“So it’s vital. It’s what I do now in my everyday life.”

The Stick With It campaign, supported by the likes of former Dally M Medallist Nicho Hynes and Inglis’s ex-Rabbitohs premiership-winning teammate Cody Walker, encourages NRL and NRLW players to strap tape on their wrists with visible messages to show strength and resilience in dark times.

“When it’s your own and you want to make it great, you’re not too sure how well it’s going to be received, but since last year it’s been great,” Origin’s greatest-ever try-scorer said.

“We’re not not calling it a theme round or anything like that.

“It’s just a campaign and about making an awareness, a national awareness, in a different way to break the stigma around mental health and starting normal conversations about mental illness.

“We want to reduce the suicide rate in our youth and suicide rates in Australia itself, but particularly in our youth.”

If you need help in a crisis, call Lifeline on 131114. For further information about depression, contact beyondblue on 1300224636 or talk to your GP, local health professional or someone you trust.