Autopsy 2026 Rd 6 Collapse. Copy. Paste.

[CarmenSandiego]

I call absolute self serving bs on that.

Was at the game. Nobody around me - nobody, including myself, noticed anything amiss with Lij or remarked on anything except for his zero possessions. Which, btw, was enough for me alone to have benched him for the last quarter.

There apparently are plenty of experts after the fact. From supporters to
commentators to scum players who are suddenly experts in human biology, the outward presentation of psychological issues and drugs and alcohol. Fair dinkum, I’ve got three degrees and a PhD and I’ve got zero clue as to what happened, and absolutely no idea what protocols the club followed, what was said, or what Elijah said either. I’ll be stuffed if I’m going to accept the so-called witnessing from footy commentators and - of all people, Collingwood players - the collective brain cells of all of them put together wouldn’t be in double figures.

I’ve seen countless matches where a single player has gone off tap for a multitude of reasons. This is the first time I’ve witnessed so many torches and pitchforks in response.

Sick of it. How about letting the evidence and facts emerge and do something positive about it when that happens. Whether that’s acknowledging a mistake and a problem with the protocol, or sacking the medical team, the coach, the player or nobody.

And best of luck, Elijah. I hope you are ok.

Are you seriously insinuating that Elijah’s episode is in fact, a conspiracy, and no different to other AFL players going ‘off tap’ (which I’d love some examples of)?

It’s a big story pal. It’s never happened before, Elijah ****ed up, we ****ed up, it’s a real thing. Get comfy because it’ll be a bumpy few weeks.

 

[mario bortallotto]

The paliopetho from Paphos (otherwise known as Demetriou ) had a personal vendetta against John Elliott. Also Ron Evans also had a personal interest in John Elliott - so there was an Elliott tax on our penalties at the time.

But Demetriou is the consummate bullshit artist and likes to rewrite history as he said at the time he felt the AFL “went easy” on Carlton.

Wants to make himself the elder statesman now and say the exact opposite - he’s an unethical slime ball.

didn't he also struggle in the private business world when transitioned away from the boys club of the AFL non for profit organization slush founds

 

[JJBagger]

Just wait until the Jumper Punch clowns turn on him and we start getting the most toxic part of the fan base calling for his head weekly.

Oh god. It’s going to be torture

 

[Aphrodite]

didn't he also struggle in the private business world when transitioned away from the boys club of the AFL non for profit organization slush founds

Former AFL boss Demetriou grilled in court about $145m corporate collapse

Crown Resorts director and former AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou is grilled in court over the $145 million collapse of education group Acquire Learning.

www.abc.net.au

Demetriou pays $360,000 to settle $45m in Acquire Learning claims

The former AFL supremo will pay a fraction of the amount claimed against him over his alleged role at the collapsed vocational education group.

www.smh.com.au

 

[TheBlueCampaigner]

I know right- they were brilliant last week in gathering round

Had 3 more wins than our mob

 

[The Blue Weirdo]

Are you seriously insinuating that Elijah’s episode is in fact, a conspiracy, and no different to other AFL players going ‘off tap’ (which I’d love some examples of)?

It’s a big story pal. It’s never happened before, Elijah ****ed up, we ****ed up, it’s a real thing. Get comfy because it’ll be a bumpy few weeks.

I remember Phil Carmen and the Saints Barry Hall and Mad Dog Muir losing their shit big time.

Hope this Eli business all ends up being a prescription medication ****-up and the club's medical department wear total responsibility for ignoring it.

 

[teagueyubeauty]

didn't he also struggle in the private business world when transitioned away from the boys club of the AFL non for profit organization slush founds

Sure did, the campaigner should be servicing bubba. Absolute bottom feeding slime ball

 

[mario bortallotto]

Former AFL boss Demetriou grilled in court about $145m corporate collapse

Crown Resorts director and former AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou is grilled in court over the $145 million collapse of education group Acquire Learning.

www.abc.net.au

Demetriou pays $360,000 to settle $45m in Acquire Learning claims

The former AFL supremo will pay a fraction of the amount claimed against him over his alleged role at the collapsed vocational education group.

www.smh.com.au

wow thats a crazy read Aph

 

[CCurnow3picks]

I call absolute self serving bs on that.

Was at the game. Nobody around me - nobody, including myself, noticed anything amiss with Lij or remarked on anything except for his zero possessions. Which, btw, was enough for me alone to have benched him for the last quarter.

There apparently are plenty of experts after the fact. From supporters to
commentators to scum players who are suddenly experts in human biology, the outward presentation of psychological issues and drugs and alcohol. Fair dinkum, I’ve got three degrees and a PhD and I’ve got zero clue as to what happened, and absolutely no idea what protocols the club followed, what was said, or what Elijah said either. I’ll be stuffed if I’m going to accept the so-called witnessing from footy commentators and - of all people, Collingwood players - the collective brain cells of all of them put together wouldn’t be in double figures.

I’ve seen countless matches where a single player has gone off tap for a multitude of reasons. This is the first time I’ve witnessed so many torches and pitchforks in response.

Sick of it. How about letting the evidence and facts emerge and do something positive about it when that happens. Whether that’s acknowledging a mistake and a problem with the protocol, or sacking the medical team, the coach, the player or nobody.

And best of luck, Elijah. I hope you are ok.

Well said & totally agree.

I suspect the separation between Elijah’s night, the media’s insatiable hunger for content (mostly negative), Carlton supporters frustration with this season has blurred.

Much of the rhetoric is frustration & dissatisfaction with our predicament, mixed with a natural concern for Elijah.

Posters & media are jumping at judgment - Without knowing, only assuming.

It makes for a nasty & unhelpful diatribe.

 

[Aphrodite]

wow thats a crazy read Aph

I remember it from years ago mario.

 

[AndyLucimitis]

Agreed on all points, it stems down to the playing group as well, if the Collingwood players knew it during the game where is the leadership from his own teammates to call it out its an absolute disgrace.

How do you know they didn’t ?

 

[gbatman]

We’ve had since Thursday night to get the response right, and Wright went out there seemingly still unprepared.

If we decided to front the media in person, rather than another social media statement (good decision IMO) we surely have some competent people in the club to write GW initial statement and fire the expected questions he will get from the media in preparation.

Then he can either answer the questions or straight bat “as I said in my statement all these things are under investigation and we want to get to the bottom of it”

I am still a believer that GW is the man for the job but that was a poor showing by the club today.

How do we handle this?

We have a player who we have trusted and backed in and has tarnished the image of the game and the club on the biggest stage. Kids are watching this, a massive audience of AFL fans are watching this, people internationally are watching this, sponsors etc etc.

We have a player who needs to be sacked immediately. This is Angwin and Norman all over again. The difference is that was at training, this was match day in a blockbuster game. That was pre-smartphone, no one saw it, this has damning video footage from spectators. Back then there was no obligation to look after those players mental health, it was simple, you F**k up, you're out. This day and age, we sack him, that's a bad image for a club that has set high standards and is desperate to attract good players and coaches.

We have an obligation to that player to look after their welfare and do the right thing by the player. But we can't keep him.

There is a likely coverup by the AFL and Carlton who are in damage control. Both have to work together because pissing off the AFL is not where we need to be right now. Especially considering the Cody Walker draft changes scenario.

We sack the player immediately. It's a bad look.

We retain the player, this simply is not an option, he's done.

Trust me, we have had since the moment we signed him to think about this and still there is no easy answer on how we should handle this.

This is a shit situation for so many. You have good people like our coach and nearly everyone on the football department who are trying. Same with a bunch of players on our list . Their careers are in serious jeopardy. Elijah Hollands does this in a close game, a crucial player, we lose a midfield rotation. We probably win if he turns up like he has the last two weeks. What the fans don't think about is that there are a lot of people working at Carlton whose careers are on the line and the more this team keeps losing, the closer these people get to losing their jobs. Do you reckon these people need shit like this? Talk about mental health, a lot of people would not have slept after Thursday night.

If anyone can come up with a solution where the club handles this well and pleases everyone. I am all ears.

 

[Bletch]

Former AFL boss Demetriou grilled in court about $145m corporate collapse

Crown Resorts director and former AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou is grilled in court over the $145 million collapse of education group Acquire Learning.

www.abc.net.au

Demetriou pays $360,000 to settle $45m in Acquire Learning claims

The former AFL supremo will pay a fraction of the amount claimed against him over his alleged role at the collapsed vocational education group.

www.smh.com.au

Note also, Acquire Learning were a Carlton corporate sponsor at the time. Potential for bad blood over that (Carlton were listed as a creditor for the failed company).

 

[What else we can do]

I remember Phil Carmen and the Saints Barry Hall and Mad Dog Muir losing their shit big time.

Hope this Eli business all ends up being a prescription medication ****-up and the club's medical department wear total responsibility for ignoring it.

Also Nicky Winmar against us in 98 that was bizarre

 

[Gointocarlton]

Alcoholics and drug addicts develop the ability to hide their intoxication quite well. To a point. I don't know Hollands but if he is someone who has a personality like this where they can be up and down, inconsistent and hard to judge. People could have put this down to him behaving differently but that just being a part of him being him.

We don't know exactly what has gone down and what has been noticed and what hasn't.

If those who have the authority to pull a player were aware he was substance affected and still played him, then they are in a world of trouble.

The other issue is that our people like all at AFL clubs aren't overly experienced in dealing with and recognising players who are substance affected. They have a laser like focus on their job and everything going on on match day. I am going to put it out there and say none of them have come across this before.

I am a former footy coach who sent a guy out who was on ice. I didn't know he was on ice, I knew he was "edgy". It was only during the game where he began to fail to control his aggression, which he has when sobre, that it became evident that this wasn't "just him" and there was more going on here. It's hard to tell with addict types because they are so inconsistent with their behavior. I emphasise with the club here because of this.

The club put a lot of trust and faith in Hollands by listing him, picking him and treating him like everyone else in the team. Maybe we were wrong to do so and needed to test him before every game and training? But I don't agree with this as trust goes both ways.

Thanks for sharing GB, when you first realised something wasnt right with your player, what did you do?

 

[BluePatriot]

If anyone can come up with a solution where the club handles this well and pleases everyone

basically clubs don’t give second or third chances unless the player is an absolute super star. I also suspect mental health screening may become more common with draftees, family history etc. but not sure AFLPA would allow that. The outcome from this is we will be reluctant to recruit any player with issues going forward. Choir boys all the way

 

[gbatman]

Thanks for sharing GB, when you first realised something wasnt right with your player, what did you do?

The player was sent off and that was their last game for the club.

 

[gbatman]

basically clubs don’t give second or third chances unless the player is an absolute super star. I also suspect mental health screening may become more common with draftees, family history etc. but not sure AFLPA would allow that. The outcome from this is we will be reluctant to recruit any player with issues going forward. Choir boys all the way

100%. It is risk Vs reward a lot of the time. A lot does not play out in public like this has.

 

[SkyhorseTamer]

I dont think they have 100% ruled out alcohol yet TBH.

Not just Alcohol. Other substances can smell like alcohol. Solvents / glues / nang type things can. As can ket, g, php and more. Not so much smell like wine/ beer but the more chemically spirit smell. So the smell reported could be many many things. Including just a chemically scent to his sweat due to drugs he's been prescribed. Alcohol dependency drugs can make your sweat smell a bit alcoholy. I'm sure there's loads of other things that when you're also sweating profusely can influence the smell

 

[SkyhorseTamer]

The narrative needs to be reset that we aren’t a club to be ****** around with and start earning some respect.

bullshit. The club's a disgrace and made a monster **** up. Hopefully the fine is so big all the speds leeching the life blood out of Carlton for 25 years are killed off. Some nonsense machoism ? No.... Incidents at other clubs don't unfold in front of 80k people and literally ruin a players post career as well as career. There's a chance he won't ever outrun this . The club can cop it's punishment with some dignity and honesty.

 

[Bamboo Harvester]

If anyone can come up with a solution where the club handles this well and pleases everyone. I am all ears.

We wait until the investigation has run it's course until we make a call - and when I say 'we', I mean Carlton FC, the AFL and the AFLPA. It'll be a collective response so that it appears that it's been an exhaustive approach, and the outcome is of benefit to all parties. There'll be a sanction, which I'm sure will also be negotiated to keep the lawyers at bay and stop it from becoming a complete mess and derail a season like the Essendon saga.

There's no way of 'handling this well' - that horse has bolted.

What I think will happen....

• Elijah will step aside from football indefinitely to seek the help he requires to get his life back in order. We won't see him in the navy blue again.
• Carlton get hit with a hefty fine, as we should.
• a statement will be forthcoming from the club which will be well written and approved by our legal team to say something along the lines of 'after an exhaustive review across all departments, we have now put processes in place so this cannot happen again. Player welfare is a number 1 priority blah blah blah'....AFL/AFLPA sign it off.
• we will never actually find out what actually caused his behaviour, apart from it being a 'mental health episode'.
• we finish 10th and win the premiership over Collingwood - Byrner slots the winning goal after the siren from 50.
• Voss gets a 5 year contract

 

[Gointocarlton]

We wait until the investigation has run it's course until we make a call - and when I say 'we', I mean Carlton FC, the AFL and the AFLPA. It'll be a collective response so that it appears that it's been an exhaustive approach, and the outcome is of benefit to all parties. There'll be a sanction, which I'm sure will also be negotiated to keep the lawyers at bay and stop it from becoming a complete mess and derail a season like the Essendon saga.

There's no way of 'handling this well' - that horse has bolted.

What I think will happen....

• Elijah will step aside from football indefinitely to seek the help he requires to get his life back in order. We won't see him in the navy blue again.
• Carlton get hit with a hefty fine, as we should.
• a statement will be forthcoming from the club which will be well written and approved by our legal team to say something along the lines of 'after an exhaustive review across all departments, we have now put processes in place so this cannot happen again. Player welfare is a number 1 priority blah blah blah'....AFL/AFLPA sign it off.
• we will never actually find out what actually caused his behaviour, apart from it being a 'mental health episode'.
• we finish 10th and win the premiership over Collingwood - Byrner slots the winning goal after the siren from 50.
• Voss gets a 5 year contract

You had me until the last two dot points.

 

[SkyhorseTamer]

100%. It is risk Vs reward a lot of the time. A lot does not play out in public like this has.

and who's fault is that lol.

 

[NavySteel]

bullshit. The club's a disgrace and made a monster **** up. Hopefully the fine is so big all the speds leeching the life blood out of Carlton for 25 years are killed off. Some nonsense machoism ? No.... Incidents at other clubs don't unfold in front of 80k people and literally ruin a players post career as well as career. There's a chance he won't ever outrun this . The club can cop it's punishment with some dignity and honesty.

I think you’ve misunderstood that part. The whole club narrative needs to be reset (not this incident in isolation). Culture, values, standards… our club has zero respect, and this latest episode just proves further that we are a basket case.

Stopping short of closing the club down, what do we do? After the dust has settled? Do nothing until the next episode of how shit Carlton are?

 

[SkyhorseTamer]

I think you’ve misunderstood that part. The whole club narrative needs to be reset (not this incident in isolation). Culture, values, standards… our club has zero respect, and this latest episode just proves further that we are a basket case.

Stopping short of closing the club down, what do we do? After the dust has settled? Do nothing until the next episode of how shit Carlton are?

yeah fair enough . My b. Just think the club has to earn the right back though. Somewhat. I've spoken to people in AFL house Richmond Geelong and the Bulldogs this year. The consistent theme has been Carlton is toxic in many many departments . Not just footy. Next fear is more incidents. Bad places do nothing til a critical mass of bad incidents occurs....