Hot Topic Will Elijah Hollands get another gig at Carlton?

[Aphrodite]

No speculating on alleged 'rumours'

Thanks all!

Folks, this is the way things are here.

Posters are responsible for what they post. Moderators can not attest to the accuracy or otherwise of any rumour posted.

Moderators will intervene for a couple of reasons.

1. If a thread is threatening to be derailed because of a post.

2. If invested parties request the removal of material.

None of this draws a conclusion as to the accuracy or otherwise of the original post.

There is no need to further speculate. What will be will be.
Click to expand...

Also, you need to remember that this thread like all parts of this forum is bound by the rules of poster conduct. If you want to express skepticism towards a rumour that's fine, but having a crack at posters who are contributors to this forum is simply not on and will be acted upon.

Simply put, don't be a dick.

Thanks all!

 

[tarczonandjane]

I know btdg says we are heading into conspiracy theory on this one, but my hypothesis for some time is that there must be legal processes involved with the AFLPA and the player’s agent. And when I make this comment, I don’t infer court processes around anything the player may or may not have done, more so around the legalities over contractual laws such as unfair dismissal.

 

[marcmurphy3]

I know btdg says we are heading into conspiracy theory on this one, but my hypothesis for some time is that there must be legal processes involved with the AFLPA and the player’s agent. And when I make this comment, I don’t infer court processes around anything the player may or may not have done, more so around the legalities over contractual laws such as unfair dismissal.

I dont think we'd have any legal liability so long as we paid out his contract. If we tore it up without pay, thats different, but doubt the club takes that risk, given he'd only be on a fairly modest figure.

 

[teddy-hopkins]

His contract was paid out but so was Binns. Desperate for list spots.

Allowing him to train on - and no contract termination - to me means the club clearly don't see his behaviour as that bad and those who think they know the inside story maybe haven't got the full picture.

By his own admission he didn't meet professional standards last year. The rest is rumours.

 

[SkyhorseTamer]

Tf does the poll have depends and maybe.

 

[Marc Shmurf 3]

Right now, I am saying he will be at the club next year.

 

[goreds]

Right now, I am saying he will be at the club next year.

There's some news!

 

[agro]

Right now, I am saying he will be at the club next year.

Could turn into a Steve Johnston moment or could go **** up, only time will tell.

 

[lily of laguna]

It is 100% hard to understand. Not saying the club has done wrong, but without all the info, it's definately hard to understand. Im not sure how anyone could dispute that.

His actions were bad enough to warrant getting his contract torn up. But now hes training for a rookie spot. Could argue its a kick up the bum, but there are ways to do that without sacking him.

Its super odd. Never seen it before and doubt we'll see it again anytime soon.

Not having a precedent is neither here nor there in terms of complexity.
Not having the facts makes us uncertain of how the decision making process was undertaken but we should approach this issue on face value.

Fact - by his own admission and from the coach he stuffed up and for that he was told to look elsewhere.

Fact - he didn't get other offers so the club ended his contract and will have to honour whatever termination clauses such as monies owed and it will count towards salary cap (not sure if we can wear it all in 2025 or have to have some carry over for 2026).

Speculation - his contract was terminated because the club was making a clear statement that poor behaviour (whatever that may be) will not be tolerated and consequences are real. (we may have already suspended him during the season or taken other actions etc.and so this measure could be an escalation of this). This was a message to all the players as much as Lij.

Speculation - as a way to continue to support and care for the individual (also a message to the entire playing group) we have "dangled the carrot" as it obvious that Lij is very keen to be an AFL player.

Could we have delisted him and asked him to be a VFL player for year, or done some other action to assist him? Maybe but it has been determined that this is the best approach for the club to take.

Again I'm not sure why this is difficult to comprehend, and I'm not suggesting for a moment that I'm smarter than anyone else here, it just seems obvious to me how this has played out.

Of course we won't know the details and it's better for all involved that we don't.

 

[BlueTongue]

Right now, I am saying he will be at the club next year.

If that happens, I hope his closest mates at the club get him aside and say something like "mate, you've done the hard yards to get back here and we want you here, so FFS don't throw it all away because this could the turning point be where your mental health life starts to really get better."

 

[Catfish blue]

Hansen said on radio earlier today that Lij was top 2 in our time trial. That's a good sign.

 

[Blue By Blood]

Massive difference between being friends or friendly as opposed to having trust

Agreed. But at the very least it shows he hasn't been outcast from the group like some implied and they they are open to him earning back the trust. Also from the pics it doesn't look like he came back in poor condition like has been implied by some.

Bottom line as the whole Elijah situation is tiresome to discuss. He will win the last spot if he buckles down and does everything right.. I think that is fairly much a given or they wouldn't have bothered to have him train on and waste the train on spot or his time. Unless of course it's just for a VFL spot.

 

[4flagsin5yrs]

Well you would know better than us Soap, none of us actually know what Elijah has done aside from rumours.

Playing group can't be too upset with him if he's on camp and back training at the club though...

GW too for that matter...

 

[FitzroyBlueBagger]

He does, as well as White.

Walter?

 

[FitzroyBlueBagger]

It is 100% hard to understand. Not saying the club has done wrong, but without all the info, it's definately hard to understand. Im not sure how anyone could dispute that.

His actions were bad enough to warrant getting his contract torn up. But now hes training for a rookie spot. Could argue its a kick up the bum, but there are ways to do that without sacking him.

Its super odd. Never seen it before and doubt we'll see it again anytime soon.

Very odd, even without the known facts it makes very little sense…
Complete head scratcher…

 

[teddy-hopkins]

Not many have done what Elijah has done. Long bow

Key is standards, culture and having trust of the playing group. If you don't have that you don't win many games. Successful clubs would have shown Elijah the door or he wouldn't have been able to go so far in the first place

You say that as if he's murdered someone.

1. He didn't have his contract terminated

2. He's being allowed to stay with the club

3. He doesn't seem to have any obvious issues with the other players - and is actually living with Walsh apparently.

So whatever you have been told on your rumour mill - please just take it with a grain of salt. It's only a rumour.

 

[ItsAllAboutMe]

I think the elephant in the room with Lij is Ollie, and has that relationship broken down, are they talking and ‘matey’ on the track or do they avoid each other?

 

[LanceRomance]

I cant see the club wasting sam Walsh

18

Sam Walsh

Age

25

Ht

184cm

Wt

84kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

25.1

5star

K

13.5

5star

HB

11.6

5star

M

5.1

5star

T

3.2

5star

CL

3.4

5star

No current season stats available

D

26.2

5star

K

15.4

5star

HB

10.8

5star

M

6.0

5star

T

3.2

5star

CL

4.8

5star

's time if they arent serious about EH.

 

[4flagsin5yrs]

I cant see the club wasting sam Walsh's time if they arent serious about EH.

Anyone's time really - EH's, the other players', the club hierarchy!

 

[katmanblue]

Not even close to a relevant comparison.

Well, unless there is more information available, people will continue to speculate.

There's been so much "if what I have heard is right" in the threads about Lij without anyone actually saying what that is, it almost invited speculation.

I think it's a fairly human reaction to try to solve a mystery with your own preconceptions added to the little information you have.

As long as there is no real info, people will speculate wildly.

Normally, it's a bit of fun. In this case I'm not sure it is. But that doesn't stop my mind from running through different theories.

Thats the difficulty with talented but troubled players. If he was a rubbish footballer no one would really give him much thought.

 

[Kruezing]

Hansen said on radio earlier today that Lij was top 2 in our time trial. That's a good sign.

Geez and he’s supposedly come back out of shape … a good sign for him yes but what does it say about the rest of the group lol

 

[Blue_Fusion]

Geez and he’s supposedly come back out of shape … a good sign for him yes but what does it say about the rest of the group lol

Or... the stuff about him being out of shape is just not true...

 

[Blue Dimension]

Would be stoked if he stayed on the list. That game he came in and played against Geelong where we beat them this year (our best game IMO), he was a real POD with his kicking and decision making to open the game up.

We need as much young talent as we can get on the list right now - lets go Lij!

 

[bigblueboy]

The obvious part that is hard to understand is that his actions:

a) are bad enough to warrant public suspension by the team (but not formal AFL suspension), and for his contract to be paid out (not cancelled); but

b) are not considered in the public interest (by the club, league, or media) and have therefore been hidden, including on Bigfooty; and

c) it is considered appropriate that he continue to train, live and play alongside the group, so it's clearly not a concern around his influence on others, or a personal conflict so serious he can't be in the building...

But I still don't see how (a) and (c) sit alongside each other, and there doesn't really seem a precedent that comes to mind. Other players who have misbehaved have either been delisted and banished, or kept their contracts but faced internal suspension and been held out from playing.

We didn't have to go through what seems a farce of a trade period, then delist him, to send the message you allude to, and doing so creates a bizarre situation for the other train-on players we have invited. Are they actually competing for a real spot, or is it just Elijah's? As it stands, we are presumably paying his 2026 salary for him to play, train and work normally alongside the 2026 group, but he's not actually on the list, and might not be, or maybe he will, but presumably getting paid again with a new contract?

There's two more obvious suggestions as to what is going on that spring to mind:

1. The club doesn't know what the **** it is doing and is soundly in the process of screwing things up (one way or another)

2. There's a negotiated agreement in place with the AFL and AFLPA that he won't be formally suspended, but he can't play until X,Y,Z date, we can delist him and replace his list spot

(2) is going into conspiracy theory territory, and seems unnecessary when as a Carlton supporter I have learnt to just assume that (1) is the case unless proven otherwise. It's been a safe enough bet for most of the last three decades

wouldn’t assume this.

 

[KohPhi]

It's great that Walsh is taking Lij under his wing..
Show him support..
Mentor him..
Encourage him..
Help Lij reach his potential.

...
Then take him to the Hawks or Cats in 2027