Warning: This story and podcast discusses suicide

Former Warriors captain Steve Price has lifted the lid on his private struggle over the last 12 months, after losing his dad to suicide.

Australian Price, who played 91 games for the Warriors from 2005-09, was back in New Zealand this year to film and promote Celebrity Treasure Island, where he featured as a contestant.

In a wide-ranging conversation on the Between Two Beers podcast, Price talked about the grieving process of losing his father, John.

“In February 2022 I got a phone call from my half-sister to say that dad had passed, which was a huge shock,” Price said. “Then we found that he committed suicide.

“Dad was someone that I didn’t have a lot to do with when I was younger, but he would sort of be there every now and then. But I just wanted to spend time with him.

“Over time, as we got older, I talked to him a lot more – and it was really cool. And then towards the end, there were moments where he would just sort of say, Stevie, I’m tired, I’m worn out, I’m done, that sort of thing.

“But he’d said that a lot through his life. So I didn’t really see it as what ended up happening.

“But now I look back and I sort of thought, well, maybe I should have said or done something more. But talking to people in that situation, you’re always going to have unanswered questions.

“And you can’t wrap yourself up in anxiety about what you could have done because at the end of the day, it’s done. It’s the saddest thing about that situation. It’s forever.”

Price filmed Celebrity Treasure Island on the first anniversary of his father’s passing and said he struggled with handling the two simultaneously.

“We spoke about it around the campfire one night and it sort of just opened up a lot of people to talk about it, and different things in our life as well, which put things in perspective and really helped.

“It took me a whole day to build the courage up to do that. And then when I did it, yeah, it was incredible. It taught me that by talking to people that you can trust, the actual benefit you get from it is unknown. And so huge. It was so soothing. I wish I had spoken about it earlier that day, because I would have had a lot better day.

Price said it had been a difficult year, but one he’s learned a lot from.

“I didn’t really know how I should have felt, which was the hardest thing, Price said.

“I’m just proud to be talking about it rather than really upset to talk about it. I think I’ve actually grasped the fact that none of us could have done anything else, it was his decision.

“He’s his own man and it’s something I regret every day but at the end of it there’s so many things that happen in our life that you can never change and you learn from it.

“I’ll be more aware of signals or if I do speak to people I try to be very honest and upfront and not afraid to ask those questions to support because you know, sometimes that’s all it can take.”

After a NRL career spanning 17 years, debuting in 1994, the former Warriors captain retired at the conclusion of the 2010 NRL season, but stayed on in New Zealand, taking ownership of the Waipu Four Square in 2014 and owning and operating it until 2017.

In the podcast Price also discussed the scandals at the Bulldogs that enveloped the team when he was there, the tragic passing of Warriors team-mate Sonny Fai, his infamous final moment in an Origin game when he was knocked out in a fight, why he left the supermarket world and his experiences on Celebrity Treasure Island.