Kelly Brooks – the daughter of former Balmain and NSW second rower David Brooks, and whose partner is former Canterbury and Canberra forward Jake Foster – has started a petition following the death of Brisbane Easts halfback Grant Giess earlier this month.

Giess, who had a brief stint with Melbourne, is the sixth player to die since the code lost Wests Tigers prop Mosese Fotuaika in February 2013 and the fourth this year following the deaths of Cowboys pair Regan Grieve and Francis Winterstein and Storm junior Hayden Butler, who was playing for the Mackay Cutters. North Queensland's Alex Elisala passed away in 2013.

Grieve's mother and sister are among more than 3000 people to have signed since Brooks started the petition on the change.org website titled: "NRL: It isn't weak to speak – make counselling compulsory within the NRL to avoid more young men taking their own lives."

"I am sure there are things in place, but to have six boys take their own lives in two years is six too many so more needs to be done," Brooks said. "There has been some players and partners of players sign the petition and comment as well so there is definitely support out there and it is not just from outside the NRL, it is also coming from inside as well."

The petition includes a letter to the NRL that reads: "Every NRL club should have a full-time counsellor/s and EVERY player in Holden Cup and the NRL squad should have a compulsory fortnightly counselling session."

Brooks said she knew through her relationship with Foster, who plays for Easts Tigers in the Queensland Cup, the pressure on young players trying to make a career in the NRL and believes a culture still exists that "seeking help is weak".

"My partner was saying that if you have someone come in to talk to the players about talking to someone and they say I am just going to leave a flyer over here with my number on it, what adult make in a room of 25 other guys is going to stand up and say 'I am going to take that number because I need to talk to someone'," she said.

"None of them are going to do that because they will think if I get up and do that everyone is going to think there is something wrong with me. But if it is compulsory and everyone has to see a counsellor there is no stigma.

"At the end of the game, players have to see the doctor or the physio and they have to have a recovery day where physically they really look after themselves but there is no checking up on the mental health. But health is a holistic thing so if your physical health is good and your mental health is not so good, then you really aren't that healthy."

NRL chief executive Dave Smith said head of football Todd Greenberg and chief operating officer Suzanne Young were reviewing the way the game dealt with mental health issues.

"I think the welfare focus has always been strong. Every club has a welfare officer and every club has a community development officer," Smith said. "But when you see suicides that's an absolute tragedy and whilst that's a society-wide issue for young men and women, obviously in our game we look to strengthen where we can.

"We are thinking very carefully about the welfare alignment we've got, not just in the NRL but in the Under-20s and in the state cups. Todd and Suzanne are working with the clubs and with the states to make sure that if there are any obvious gaps then we step in and try and prevent those tragedies, because they are tragedies when young people don't have anybody to talk to.

"That's one of the reasons why through State of Origin we do State of Mind mental health. We run a lot of programs around being able to talk to your mates or to other people when you feel it's a bit tough, and we spend a lot of time and energy on welfare. The question is to look at the specifics and see if there's more we can be doing."

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