{"id":612413,"date":"2026-04-17T07:04:35","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T07:04:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/612413\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T07:04:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T07:04:35","slug":"afl-carlton-supporting-shattered-blue-hollands-illawarra-mercury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/612413\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL, Carlton supporting ‘shattered’ Blue Hollands | Illawarra Mercury"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MichaelMichael Voss says they are supporting and working with Elijah Hollands after his off night. Photo: Joel Carrett\/AAP PHOTOS<\/p>\n

The AFL has joined Carlton in supporting a “shattered” Elijah Hollands after the Blues utility expressed regret for his erratic, one-disposal performance in a close loss to Collingwood.<\/p>\n

Hollands initially ended Thursday night’s 13.10 (88) to 12.11 (83) defeat at the MCG without registering a statistic, despite playing 75 per cent of the match across the first three quarters.<\/p>\n

The 23-year-old was eventually awarded a possession by Champion Data in retrospect, an ineffective kick in the third term.<\/p>\n

\"BluesBlues players leave the field after their five-point defeat to Collingwood. (Joel Carrett\/AAP PHOTOS)<\/p>\n

After failing to impact the match, Hollands was benched for most of the last quarter as Collingwood stormed home from 18 points down at the final break.<\/p>\n

The AFL has been in contact with Carlton on Friday about how to best support Hollands.<\/p>\n

“We are having ongoing discussions with Carlton and also ensuring Elijah has the relevant support,” AFL spokesperson Jay Allen told AAP on Friday.<\/p>\n

The AFL Players Association was concerned by how the situation evolved and has been in contact with the AFL and Hollands’ manager to better understand what happened.<\/p>\n

Carlton coach Michael Voss described Hollands as being “pretty shattered”.<\/p>\n

\"PriorPrior to last night’s tough performance, Elijah Hollands had been enjoying a good start to the year. (James Ross\/AAP PHOTOS)<\/p>\n

“I spoke to him after the game and he was really disappointed with how he started,” Voss said on Thursday night.<\/p>\n

“He was really upset and feels like he’s let me down.<\/p>\n

“He was pretty emotional after the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“He didn’t play a great game and he struggled to get his way into it.”<\/p>\n

Voss said he was in “constant conversations” with Hollands during the match.<\/p>\n

Several videos circulated online after the match appearing to show Hollands confused and exhibiting erratic behaviour.<\/p>\n

“He was disappointed with how he was playing, so when it comes to the last quarter, you obviously have to work out what mix you’ve got with five minutes to go and what you want on the field,” Voss said.<\/p>\n

“He wasn’t having a great night.<\/p>\n

“We obviously thought the best mix was to not have him out there.”<\/p>\n

“He feels really disappointed with his performance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“With the importance of the night, he feels like he’s let people down.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“But we just have to keep supporting people through those situations.”<\/p>\n

Last year, Hollands twice took personal leave from Carlton, later revealing he had been battling mental ill-health and issues with alcohol.<\/p>\n

The former Gold Coast player was delisted by the Blues at the end of last season, despite having a year to run on his contract.<\/p>\n

But Hollands was invited to Carlton training over summer, impressing enough to win his spot back on the list.<\/p>\n

He has played all six games this season, averaging 18.4 possessions before the concerning output against the Magpies.<\/p>\n

Carlton slumped to 1-5, losing for a fourth time this year after having a sizeable lead during the second half.<\/p>\n

“Carlton have been in front four times this year … we were questioning whether they could do it for four quarters,” Collingwood coach Craig McRae said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“That’s the evidence they’ve put in front of everyone, so we wanted to play it out.<\/p>\n

“Still, you’ve got to take your chances and you’ve got to make the most of it.”<\/p>\n

Australian Associated Press<\/p>\n

More from National Sport News<\/p>\n

\"YourYour morning news<\/p>\n

Today’s top stories curated by our news team. Also includes evening update.<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

\"TheThe lunch break<\/p>\n

Grab a quick bite of today’s latest news from around the region and the nation.<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

\"TheThe evening wrap<\/p>\n

Catch up on the news of the day and unwind with great reading for your evening.<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

\"NoteNote from the Editor<\/p>\n

Get the editor’s insights: what’s happening & why it matters.<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

\"SportSport<\/p>\n

The latest news, results & expert analysis.<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

\"FootyHQFootyHQ<\/p>\n

Love footy? We’ve got all the action covered.<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

\"What'sWhat’s On<\/p>\n

Going out or staying in? Find out what’s on.<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

\"PropertyProperty<\/p>\n

Smart property news for the Illawarra<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

\"BusinessBusiness Briefing<\/p>\n

Find out what’s happening in local business.<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Senior<\/p>\n

Stay in the know on news that matters to you with twice weekly newsletters from The Senior.<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

\"ExploreExplore Travel<\/p>\n

Every Saturday and Tuesday, explore destinations deals, tips & travel writing to transport you around the globe.<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Echidna<\/p>\n

Sharp. Close to the ground. Digging deep. Your weekday morning newsletter on national affairs, politics and more.<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Informer<\/p>\n

Your essential national news digest: all the big issues on Wednesday and great reading every Saturday.<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

\"VoiceVoice of Real Australia<\/p>\n

Get real, Australia! Let the ACM network’s editors and journalists bring you news and views from all over.<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

\"MotoringMotoring<\/p>\n

Get news, reviews and expert insights every Thursday from CarGuide, ACM’s exclusive motoring partner.<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

\"BreakingBreaking news alert<\/p>\n

Be the first to know when news breaks.<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

\"Today'sToday’s Paper Alert<\/p>\n

Your digital replica of Today’s Paper. Ready to read from 5am!<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

\"YourYour favourite puzzles<\/p>\n

Test your skills with interactive crosswords, sudoku & trivia. Fresh daily!<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Michael Voss says they are supporting and working with Elijah Hollands after his off night. Photo: Joel Carrett\/AAP…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":612414,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-612413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=612413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612413\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/612414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=612413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=612413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=612413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}