Carlton star Elijah Hollands has been admitted to hospital after exhibiting worrying behaviour during his side’s game against Collingwood on Thursday night.
The Blues, who are investigating the 23-year-old midfielder’s erratic actions, confirmed the news in a short statement on Monday evening.
It read: “The Carlton Football Club can confirm that Elijah Hollands has been admitted to hospital this evening.
“While the club acknowledges the public’s interest, it again asks that the privacy of Elijah and his family be respected.
“This request for privacy extends to the media to please not report or speculate on Hollands’ location and private health information.”
Carlton, who are expected to be fined or sanctioned for their handling of the situation, released a statement last week claiming Hollands’ behaviour was the result of a “mental health episode”.
CEO Graham Wright has admitted the club were “aware he was struggling in the game.”
Collingwood’s Brayden Maynard has revealed Magpies players overheard “chatter” about Hollands’ behaviour during the game at the MCG.
Speaking on Monday ahead of this weekend’s Anzac Day game, Maynard said: “I wasn’t aware of what was going on, but I think there was a bit of chatter happening and I didn’t pay much attention to it at all… if I did, I definitely would have said something.
“I overheard a few things, but as I said, I was too focused on the game to really understand what was actually going on.
“(Hollands) was definitely around the area and people were chatting about it, but I was focused on playing the game and if I did notice something myself with Elijah I would have said something, but I was too focused on the game and I can understand why it’s such a big topic.”
Maynard said he was too in the zone to notice Hollands in trouble, but hopes he would have informed Collingwood’s hierarchy if he spotted a teammate in a similar situation.
“To be honest if I saw one of my teammates acting in such a way that Elijah was, then I would definitely say something and mention it to the hierarchy,” Maynard said.
“But like I said, that is for Carlton to deal with their player, and everyone is doing the best they can to look after him.”
Viral footage has emerged on social media of Collingwood players looking concerned, speaking to each other as the teams assembled for the post-match presentation of the Peter Mac Cup.
The vision of Jeremy Howe, Jack Crisp, Darcy Cameron, Dan Houston and Lachie Schultz in deep discussion has sparked speculation from footy fans and analysis from lip-readers about what the Pies players were talking about.
Former St Kilda and Kangaroos player Nick Dal Santo called for calm and for fans not to jump to conclusions.
“Right now we just need to be really careful,” Dal Santo said on Fox Footy.
“I think it’s extremely dangerous to speculate what it is and what it isn’t. We’ve all heard the whispers and what we thought it could have been or what it looked like. Everyone’s got an opinion on it.
“I just think we need to calm the conversation down and let the right people do their job.”
Dal Santo addressed the “the conversation of ‘they knew about it and still put him out there’.”
“Football is one of the most important things in our lives but it’s not as important as people and caring for your own. I have a trust that Carlton or any football club would never do that to one of their own,” he said.
Questions are being asked as to why Hollands played nine minutes in the fourth quarter after starting the final term on the bench.
Collingwood captain and AFL Players Association president Darcy Moore said the AFLPA was closely involved with the investigation into Carlton’s handling of Hollands.
“I am not going to add any additional commentary, clearly a process is playing out with Carlton and the AFL at the moment,” Moore said.
“As a Players’ Association, we have been involved in the process intimately over the last few days, which is really encouraging and a great sign.
“The major concern is clearly just Elijah’s welfare.”
