Source :- THE AGE NEWS
The father of Elijah Hollands has posted a heartfelt message in support of his struggling son, saying he will “lift him up until he is restored in full”.
Hollands, who turns 24 on Saturday, has been admitted to a Melbourne hospital following a “mental health” episode during Thursday night’s clash between Carlton and Collingwood at the MCG.
His father, Ben, released a note on Instagram this morning alongside a portrait picture of his son in Carlton football gear handballing a football.
“This is my beautiful boy,” the message says.
“For anyone in the midst of healing … You are loved. You have a unique and defined purpose. You are seen whole.
“I know who my son is — and I will lift him up until he is restored in full.
“For those supporting someone who is struggling: encourage them, affirm them, and love them.
“Go to them, remind them of who they truly are …”
Ben Hollands played eight games for Richmond in 1999. He was initially recruited by Sydney from North Albury.
His sons, Elijah and Ollie, were reunited at Carlton at the start of 2024.
Elijah crossed from the Gold Coast after being taken by the Suns at pick 14 in the 2020 draft. Ollie was taken by Carlton at pick four in the 2023 national draft.
Both boys grew up playing football in the Albury-Wodonga region.
Carlton are facing intense scrutiny over the way they handled the young midfielder’s welfare.
Melbourne premiership captain Max Gawn said on Tuesday the Demons would use the Hollands’ case to check how they would handle such a situation.
“It’s been a tough week in football with the Hollands family and the Dawson family,” Gawn said on Triple M.
The brother of Adelaide captain Jordan Dawson died last week in South Australia. Jaryd Dawson was reported missing by his wife, Jessica, on Tuesday. A day later police confirmed his body had been found and identified.
“It’s an interesting one. When things like this happen in football, we will use this as a test case,” Gawn said.
“I’ll go into the leaders this week and put this on us, [and ask] what would we do in this situation? Once the game started going, hindsight is a wonderful thing, and we all saw what we saw on vision.
“I’d love to do a test case on myself and see how I’d react in that [situation] but, in hindsight, he should have come off the ground at some point.”
Gawn said he would have “multiple” face-to-face chats with teammates before taking to the field.
“But again, we’re presuming that Elijah was acting differently. We’ve been given a lot of vision [since the match] and it’s helped us come to our own determination of what should have happened with Elijah, but you have to remember how hard that actually is to call live,” Gawn said.
Jon Pierik is a sports journalist at The Age. He covers AFL and has won awards for his cricket and basketball writing.Connect via X or email.
