{"id":414426,"date":"2026-04-28T06:23:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T06:23:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/414426\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T06:23:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T06:23:26","slug":"afl-doctors-association-speaks-out-on-elijah-hollands-affair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/414426\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL Doctors Association speaks out on Elijah Hollands affair"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Jake<\/p>\n

April 26, 2026 \u2014 2:28pm<\/p>\n

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The AFL\u2019s club doctors have defended the conduct and professionalism of Carlton\u2019s medical team in the Elijah Hollands affair.<\/p>\n

Dr David Long, a club doctor at Richmond and previously a medico for Geelong and Brisbane, who is also president of the AFL Doctors\u2019 Association, also urged media commentators to exercise caution when speculating about the health issues arising from the Hollands case.<\/p>\n

He said this speculation was not helpful to Hollands, who was admitted to hospital last week<\/a> after experiencing a mental health episode during the round six match against Collingwood at the MCG 10 days ago.<\/p>\n

The AFL is expected to have further questions for Carlton after the Blues handed over their account of what transpired before and during the game, when Hollands was assessed multiple times by club doctors, and a club psychologist was dialled for the conversation. The player remained on the field until the 20-minute mark of the last quarter and had only one disposal for the match.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"From<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe physical and mental welfare of all players remains the highest priority of AFL club medical staff. While acknowledging that the internal and external reviews into the circumstances of Carlton\u2019s round six game at the MCG are ongoing, the AFL Doctors Association would like to reinforce its support for the integrity and calibre of Carlton Football Club\u2019s doctors and broader multidisciplinary medical team,\u201d Long said in a statement from the AFLDA.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn light of ongoing media commentary, the AFL Doctors Association would ask for caution in speculation on health matters from those without expertise and without full knowledge of the facts of the case.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is frankly not helpful in addressing what we all agree is the immediate priority \u2013 the welfare of the player involved. It has the potential to compromise their privacy and potentially their recovery. It is also important to acknowledge the personal toll this type of situation can have on all those involved, including the medical staff, and we\u2019d ask that this be considered when providing commentary.\u201d<\/p>\n

The doctors\u2019 statement follows Carlton coach Michael Voss\u2019 strong backing of staff at Carlton over their care for Hollands.<\/p>\n

Under AFL rules, clubs can be fined $50,000 or more<\/a> if they are found to have sent a player onto the field who was not fit to play.<\/p>\n

The 23-year-old had said he was struggling during the match, and willingly submitted to a drug test in the aftermath of the game. The result of the test has not been made public.<\/p>\n

\"FormerFormer footballer Ben Hollands (centre) with sons Ollie (left) and Elijah (right) at the 2025 Carlton club championships.Jonathan Di Maggio<\/p>\n

Hollands\u2019 younger brother, Ollie, who was on the field with him against Collingwood, did not play in Saturday night\u2019s 14-point loss to Fremantle at Optus Stadium,<\/a> although he did travel to Perth with the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a big week for everyone, and a big week for the family,\u201d Voss said.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Michael<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHe [Ollie] wanted to play \u2013 he\u2019s an absolute competitor \u2013 but we just sort of felt like with how the week\u2019s played out, it would be better to maybe sit this one out.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s in a good space, but we obviously felt like it was the better way to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Long ended the doctors\u2019 association statement by emphasising the importance of investment in health services.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d like to highlight the importance of continued investment from clubs and the AFL in health services across the AFL, AFLW, VFL and VFLW programs to ensure the highest level of care for the players is maintained,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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\"JakeJake Niall<\/a> is a Walkley award-winning sports journalist and chief AFL writer for The Age.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"April 26, 2026 \u2014 2:28pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":414427,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[163,85,46,522,523],"class_list":["post-414426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-health","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=414426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414426\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/414427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=414426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=414426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=414426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}