NO TROLLS Elijah Hollands (GC-Carlton): Recent Developments & Mental Health Wellbeing

[gothchick92]

Do people actually expect Voss to come out and say ‘Yeah, Elijah was off his face on drugs’, in a press conference, before anything even remotely like that was confirmed?

Obviously not. A good coach would emphasise that he is not doing well and then move on. To linger on his performance is ridiculous, unhelpful and shows him to be out of touch. Particularly in the context of what we saw and his own role in permitting what we saw to occur.

 

[Makeshift Park]

Obviously not. A good coach would emphasise that he is not doing well and then move on. To linger on his performance is ridiculous, unhelpful and shows him to be out of touch. Particularly in the context of what we saw and his own role in permitting what we saw to occur.

You don’t reckon he was actually emphasising Elijah’s regret at his own performance, rather than the performance itself?

"He's pretty shattered with his game, to be honest with you," Voss said afterwards.

"I spoke to him after the game and he was really disappointed with how he started. He was really upset and feels like he's let me down. I had a good chat with him. He was pretty emotional after the game. He didn't play a great game and he struggled to get his way into it.“

"He feels, clearly, really disappointed with his performance. Obviously, with the importance of the night, he feels like he's let people down. But we just have to keep supporting people through those situations."

 

[Bald]

He's just had his Jamarra 2024 elimination final game.

Unfortunately he's done.

 

[Bostonian]

He should have said Elijah is in a bad way and now is not the right time for questions.

No he shouldn't have said that. He did what he had to do and answered it as a football question.

You're inviting speculation and Voss was avoiding that.

 

[Bostonian]

Do people actually expect Voss to come out and say ‘Yeah, Elijah was off his face on drugs’, in a press conference, before anything even remotely like that was confirmed?

Some dim wits seem to think so.

 

[gothchick92]

You don’t reckon he was actually emphasising Elijah’s regret at his own performance, rather than the performance itself?

I think that phrases like "he feels like he's let people down" are incredibly unhelpful. Likewise "he struggled to get his way into it" feels out of touch. Hollands would be listening and it would reinforce feelings of shame and that Voss does not understand what's going on. In effect, Voss has put it on Hollands and washed him and the club's hands of any complicity. Voss' words convey to the AFL world, and Hollands who has presumably heard these words, that this is a Hollands problem and, ultimately, a footy problem.

He could not have spoken about what actually happened, I understand that. He should have chosen better words and, I think, has probably made an awful situation much worse for Hollands.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

If he's on SSRIs, which is entirely plausible given his history, then not taking them in line with scheduled dosage whether by design or otherwise can potentially drive similar behaviour as far as I'm aware

Carlton have a lot to answer for here, they’ve really let Elijah down, and should have been able to identify that he was not doing well, long before anyone at home could.

 

[Pies No 1]

He's the worst coach in the league. It's a shame because he was a champion player and an all round nice guy, the type you want to see succeed but he just isn't a tactician. I really wanted him to succeed but i think he's had more then enough time.

Brad Scott says Hi.

 

[Badesumofu]

He clearly wasn't right out there. I don't think endless speculating is going to help. You'd expect he'd be drug tested and that will be dealt with appropriately by SIA. If there is something else going on, it may simply be none of our business and the guy just needs help.

 

[Dazb86]

Makes me really appreciate just how good Ben Cousins was.

 

[1990crow]

How come his teammates knew not to give him the ball? That’s damning.

Yeah noticed they were actively choosing not to pass to him

 

[T2B_]

I feel very sorry for the guy. No one wants to see people in that state of mind. I just hope the Carlton football club will endeavour to work with him over the next few years and not just axe him and wash their hands of the whole situation.

I'd be sacking a bunch of the guys that allowed him to be out there like that long before sacking him

 

[Makeshift Park]

I think that phrases like "he feels like he's let people down" are incredibly unhelpful. Likewise "he struggled to get his way into it" feels out of touch. Hollands would be listening and it would reinforce feelings of shame and that Voss does not understand what's going on. In effect, Voss has put it on Hollands and washed him and the club's hands of any complicity. Voss' words convey to the AFL world, and Hollands who has presumably heard these words, that this is a Hollands problem and, ultimately, a footy problem.

He could not have spoken about what actually happened, I understand that. He should have chosen better words and, I think, has probably made an awful situation much worse for Hollands.

I don’t see it that way, I thought he did a reasonable job of inviting us to be sympathetic of a bloke in a vulnerable position. But everyone will have the own take on what the right thing to do in that situation was, and that’s fair enough.

 

[Sqotty from office works]

Carlton have a leadership group?

No we don't.
We haven't had on or off field leadership for 30 years.

 

[Pies No 1]

Not for a sustained period like this, but I could imagine late in the game after having no impact it would be easy to panic. I've got bad anxiety and the way he's moving is similar to me when I'm panicking, trying to shake it out, move through it, it can look random and jittery. I've been accused of being on drugs or withdrawals due to this. I can't imagine feeling this way in front of so many people and on national TV. I feel really bad for the guy, whatever it is he's going through.

This is what I'm thinking. I've had terrible anxiety over the years and I'll be completely 'normal' for months or years, then suddenly have this attack and have all these stressful and depressing thoughts. And I find myself wandering the streets at 3AM, because I can't sleep and have tonnes of adrenaline. When your cortisol levels are off and you lose sleep and appetite, it sends one downhill fast, and these behaviors are part of it.

So for everyone saying its mania, hard drugs, skitzofrenic behaviour, it is possibly none of this. People saying these things don't understand how mental health issues like anxiety can be kicked off by a tiny thing and spiral down into a panic attack. And NOBODY would know until that panic attack takes place. So the Carlton people may not have had any idea he was in any turmoil until he started doing these things on the ground. There may have been no signs before the game, besides him saying "I didnt sleep well last night". Are they supposed to drop a player for that?

 

[GoPies1]

Carlton have a lot to answer for here, they’ve really let Elijah down, and should have been able to identify that he was not doing well, long before anyone at home could.

Boys in the states were exhibiting a fair amount of erratic behaviour.
Nobody at hawks hierarchy got their ring kicked.
Carlton coach isn’t an AOD worker

 

[Tandy]

I’m really hoping he wasn’t under the influence. Always liked him and barracked for his comeback. I didn’t watch all the game. But on news.com I just seen some footage that does definitely suggest he wasn’t right/himself. And his movements and actions were similar to what I know to be someone under the influence. Is it true Ainsworth didn’t celebrate with him after he kicked his goal and shook his hand, anything in that?
Maybe I don’t know but if he hadn’t had a touch and started to spiral could that have bought on anxiety and a type of mania of some sort? We do know that drug use fries your brain and with prolonged use youre never the person you once were.
Needs support, hes just a kid. Im pretty sure they’ll drug test him after the game. And won’t it be public if it’s on game day?

 

[GoEaglesGoSGIO]

Makes me really appreciate just how good Ben Cousins was.

Rubbish . Cousins was always clean and ready to go on match day, his pre and post game routine was actually stuff of legends .

 

[frggr]

There's being tired and being told your player had no sleep prior

I dunno, plenty of people say "I didn't get a wink of sleep last night!" and most would take that to mean they slept poorly, not that they didn't sleep at all.

Yeah. Carlton probably could have been a little more vigilant with him though

 

[zyzzbruh]

Not for a sustained period like this, but I could imagine late in the game after having no impact it would be easy to panic. I've got bad anxiety and the way he's moving is similar to me when I'm panicking, trying to shake it out, move through it, it can look random and jittery. I've been accused of being on drugs or withdrawals due to this. I can't imagine feeling this way in front of so many people and on national TV. I feel really bad for the guy, whatever it is he's going through.

That was not a panic attack my guy. In some of the footage at one stage he does this thing where he puts his hands on his hips, flares backwards and turns - clear exhibit of one particular hard drug.

 

[Tandy]

If the stories are true that he wasnt acting "normal" ore game, it is baffling that Carlton allowed him to even run out there.

This is not about Hollands regardless of if it is a mental health episode or something else, this is a duty of care issue.

First - Carlton sent someone clearly not of sound mind out on the field. This could've ended up with him injuring himself, or even injuring someone else.

Second - there are numerous AFL officials at all games. You're telling me not ONE of them realised and intervened?

Yep, not sure how he was allowed out there for his own safety. Carlton will have a lot to answer for. Wouldn’t be suprised if they were fined for it too.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Boys in the states were exhibiting a fair amount of erratic behaviour.
Nobody at hawks hierarchy got their ring kicked.
Carlton coach isn’t an AOD worker

Of all the dumb comparisons that anyone could make, this is probably the dumbest.

Hollands was surrounded by teammates, his coach, while observers both at home and at the ground identified something was wrong.

 

[Lockyer24]

Watching the footage, the players seem aware of it, don’t want anything to do with him. Yet how can he stay out there and there be no communication he is not fit to play.
Even Voss in the presser doesn’t sound like he knows how serious it is. Sure he could be downplaying it but I’m not convinced of that either….considering he’d been let to play.

 

[pantskyle]

Of all the dumb comparisons that anyone could make, this is probably the dumbest.

Hollands was surrounded by teammates, his coach, while observers both at home and at the ground identified something was wrong.

It's a rubble, mate.

 

[Blackhawk42]

3 options here....

1. He took illicit drugs leading into a game. Addiction or not, absolutely zero sympathy and should never play again.

2. Change/miscalculation of prescription drugs. That would be more unfortunate, and hopefully closer to the truth.

3. A complete mental health breakdown, not drug related. Would be one of the saddest things ever seen on the footy field, and you'd hope he gets the right help immediately.


Regardless, how did he even make it onto the field last night?

Also, if I'm George Hewett

29

George Hewett

Age

30

Ht

187cm

Wt

87kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

17.7

4star

K

7.4

3star

HB

10.3

5star

M

2.7

3star

T

4.1

5star

CL

3.3

5star

D

13.8

3star

K

4.8

2star

HB

9.0

4star

M

1.8

2star

T

3.2

4star

CL

2.8

4star

D

11.2

3star

K

7.8

3star

HB

3.4

3star

M

3.4

4star

T

4.0

5star

CL

0.4

3star

, I'm quitting immediately, playing VFL for the rest of the season, and leaving Carlton in the trade period.
If Elijah in his condition was still picked to play over me, I'd be mentally checked out of that football club permanently.