Carlton releases statement following significant financial sanction

Carlton has been fined $75,000 by the AFL for their handling of Eljiah Hollands during a mental health episode against Collingwood in Round 6.

The AFL conducted a full investigation into the ongoings at the MCG, within which Hollands was permitted to take to the field despite enduring a mental health episode.

Carlton staff failed to remove the forward from the ground until late in the final term. He completed the game with just one disposal.

The club has since admitted Hollands to hospital, placing a clear priority in caring for the 24-year-old's mental wellbeing, while the AFL will mandate all clubs to employ a full-time psychologist.

Carlton released the following statement regarding the sanction:

First and foremost, the Carlton Football Club’s support remains with Elijah Hollands, whose health and wellbeing continues to be the highest priority.

The Club continues to work closely with qualified medical professionals to ensure Elijah is receiving the necessary care, with support being extended to the Hollands family.

The Club would also like to thank all those who have sent through messages and have respected the privacy of the Hollands family during this time.

On 23 April, the Club provided to the AFL a detailed, factual account of the circumstances relating to Elijah Hollands and the Club’s Round 6 match.

This submission made clear the Club’s position that it supports its people, who are highly-respected professionals with the utmost integrity, and operate with genuine care for all players and staff who represent the football club.

The League has today determined that a decision to remove Hollands from the field should have come sooner than the 20-minute mark of the final quarter.

The Club will make the $75,000 donation to Headspace, the National Youth Mental Health Foundation which provides early intervention mental health services to young people.

The Club understands the public’s interest for further context to be provided on this matter, however will be unable to disclose sensitive and private information.

Further to this, it would not be appropriate to provide additional public comment while a WorkSafe enquiry remains ongoing.

“Our support for Elijah comes from a place of genuine care and understanding of him and the challenges he has been experiencing,” Carlton CEO Graham Wright said.

“Our Club stands in unwavering support of its medical and wellbeing staff, who continue to conduct themselves with the highest level of professionalism, integrity, and genuine care for all our players and staff.

“We accept the outcome in the interest of enabling all parties to move forward, while continuing to ensure the health and wellbeing of our people remains a priority.

“While our process with the AFL is now concluded, throughout this time we have not lost sight of ensuring Elijah and his family continue to receive all the support and care they need. The messages of support our club has received on their behalf have been significant, and we thank everyone who has taken the time to do so.

“Elijah is taking the necessary time to prioritise his health and wellbeing right now and he will continue to do so with our full support.”

CEO Andrew Dillon spoke in an official press conference on Tuesday afternoon.

“Firstly, I want to acknowledge Elijah and his family,” Dillon commenced.

“Our focus continues to be on Elijah’s wellbeing. Before I start, I want to remind everyone that we are bound by medical confidentiality in regard to a number of matters, so we won’t be able to go into private medical information.

“Today the AFL has now finalised the inquiries into the circumstances surrounding Elijah Hollands’ participation in the Round 6 match between Carlton and Collingwood at the MCG on 16 April.

“Having reviewed Carlton’s report and conducted further enquiries, we found that there were sufficient visual cues that started before the match, and understanding of Elijah’s personal circumstances to indicate that he should have been removed from play earlier than he was.

“We also determined that the delay in removing Elijah from the field results in an outcome that brought the game into disrepute. These finding have been made against the Carlton Football Club collectively, not against any individual.

“As a result, Carlton has been found to have breached AFL rule 2.3A, and has been sanctioned $75,000, with a full amount to be donated to the AFL’s mental health partner, Headspace.

“This donation will support the implementation of community youth mental health initiatives. What transpired during the game was something we haven’t seen before, and while Elijah did undergo checks, he should not have been left on the field for that period of time, and the incident has highlighted something important for our game.

“Whilst our physical injury protocols are strong and well understood. Mental health presentations can be variable and are complex. That means we need to continue to strengthen and standardise how we respond on matchday to acute mental health episodes.

“In response, we will work with our clubs and experts across the industry on a number of actions.”

Laura Kane added the following:

“Since late last year, we have been reviewing healthcare governance across the AFL industry, and as a result of that work and in light of the circumstances that we’re talking about, in partnership with our clubs, with the AFLPA and with our broader industry partners, we will improve industry-wide healthcare governance standards through the following initiatives.

“We will establish an AFL health and wellbeing governance committee, that advises the AFL industry on healthcare governance related matters.

“We will implement the appointment of full-time psychologists, or the equivalent, across our AFL and AFLW programs with industry consultation in relation to that initiative commencing immediately.

“We will develop industry wide standards relating to psychological fitness to play with best practice guidelines and incident management and review system.

“We will conduct a review of club football department soft-cap policies pertaining specifically to healthcare mechanisms that sit within that policy.

“We will expand mental health literacy across all staff in our football department, AFL and AFLW, and we will host a mental health round table with our media partners in partnership with Black Dog institute and the Danny Frawley Community in the lead up to Spud’s Game.

“This has to be about care, clarity and action, and this is bigger than one club and one night. There are lessons in this for all of us – the main one is that our duty of care must continue to evolve, and that must include mental health and wellbeing.”

Is the AFL satisfied that this was a mental health episode that wasn’t handled well enough by the club?

Dillon: “It was absolutely a mental health episode. That is where the enquiries have taken us. Based on the visual cues, performance data and understandings of Elijah’s circumstances, he should have been removed from the ground earlier.”

When did the investigation commence?

Kane: “Our formal enquiries with Carlton commenced the following morning. As they shared publicly, their submission to us included all time periods from before the game through to after it.

“I can’t go into specifics of his medical care, but through our enquiries and as Andrew said, comfortable that the outcome should have been that he was removed from the game earlier.”

How did you land at $75,000?

Dillon: “We looked under rule 2.3A, the sanctions can be at large, but we looked at previous instances where there have been collective responsibility from clubs and looked at it based on that. It’s a substantial sanction, the club has accepted it.”

Is there a WorkSafe investigation underway?

Dillon: “I understand that there is.”

AFL journalist Riley Beveridge released this statement on Tuesday afternoon:

Carlton is set to be given a $75,000 fine over its handling of the Elijah Hollands situation, while the AFL is expected to make it mandatory for every club employ a full-time psychiatrist in the wake of the incident.

The AFL, Carlton and the AFL Players' Association have all been involved into the ongoing review of the Hollands incident, which saw him play while he was suffering from a mental health episode last month.

Hollands was hospitalised five days later, with all parties subsequently investigating what led to the Carlton youngster featuring in the match and what unfolded during the side's loss to Collingwood.

Carlton chief executive Graham Wright later said the club was aware of Hollands' situation during the game, before coach Michael Voss launched a passionate defence of the staffers involved in dealing with the situation.