The father of Elijah Hollands, Ben Hollands, has broken his silence after his son's reported mental health episode during Carlton's loss to Collingwood in round six.
It comes as the Blues revealed on Monday night that Hollands had been admitted to hospital.
The club released a statement confirming the news and asked for the 23-year-old to be given privacy.
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"The Carlton Football Club can confirm that Elijah Hollands has been admitted to hospital this evening," the brief statement said.
"While the club acknowledges the public's interest, it again asks that the privacy of Elijah and his family be respected."
Hollands played 60 per cent of the match against Collingwood but only recorded one disposal and was captured behaving strangely throughout the match. Footage from the stands also showed him shanking a practice kick in the warm-up.
The Blues have publicly stated they believe the situation was a mental health episode. The 23-year-old has previously admitted to battling panic attacks and anxiety during games.
Ben Hollands took to Instagram on Tuesday morning, following his son's admission into hospital.
"This is my beautiful boy," he posted under a photo of Elijah in a Carlton jumper.
"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. Remind them of who they truly are."
Ben has two sons in the AFL, with Ollie Hollands also at Carlton.
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As a result of the incident, Carlton are now staring down the possibility of a heavy sanction from the AFL for allowing Hollands to play in the state he was in.
Former Carlton captain Sam Docherty believes his old club and the AFL have both let Hollands down, wondering how he was allowed to take the field for the round six loss to Collingwood.
Docherty, who captained the club as recently as 2021 and played alongside Hollands, is frustrated that nobody at the club stepped in to pull him from the game when everyone watching could see something was wrong.
"Ultimately it doesn't matter how many times I try to wrap this up in a different spot, I just feel like he has been really let down by Carlton and the AFL more broadly," Docherty told 3AW.
"As a kid who has been really open about his struggles, he took time off football this time last year, I just look at some of the systems that should have been in the background, how to care for him and to make sure this kind of event doesn't come up.
"They're treating it as a mental health episode at the moment, and just from that perspective, I cannot fathom how he was out there, and for so long.
"If you wrap it up in any form … whether it's Carlton, whether it's the AFL with the ARC, I don't understand how someone hasn't stepped in and tried to rectify that on game day.
"It was so clear. I had videos before half time from people sending it to me. I can't fathom how someone hasn't had the conversation with him, seen some of the vision and asked him if he's OK or pulled him off.
"It's disappointing to see a young guy, he's only 23, he's a terrific kid, got his troubles in terms of mental health and life off-field. I think the conversation has shifted in the right direction. It's gone less about him and his background and more about what should have happened on game day to protect this young guy."
Docherty was also alarmed by Carlton boss Graham Wright's revelation on Sunday that they were aware early in the game that something wasn't right with Hollands.
"I listened to Graham Wright's press conference on Sunday and the moment he said they knew something wasn't right, that's the bit for me, it's like 'OK, we're outside the argument of did we or did we not know', you knew something wasn't right.
"And then you start asking – why didn't you do anything about it?"
Collingwood players have reportedly claimed the Blues forward admitted he'd been drinking and they could smell alcohol on his breath. Wright has denied that to be the case, putting it down to a mental health episode.
Collingwood defender Brendan Maynard had admitted earlier on Monday that there was "chatter" among players about Hollands' condition.
Maynard did not match up on Hollands throughout the match despite the latter starting in the forwards.
But that didn't stop the Pies star from overhearing comments about his rival.
"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 and if I did, I definitely would have said something," he told The Age.
"I overheard a few things, but as I said, I was too focused on the game to really understand what was actually going on. He 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.
"But I don't think it's a conversation that needs to be had from our end. I think Carlton are doing the best they can to have the situation handled and have the right people in charge to do that, so I don't need to make any more comments on that."
Maynard did add that he would have mentioned something to club bosses if it was one of his teammates.
"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," he 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 and that is the issue here – to make sure he gets support around him to make sure his mental health is looked after."
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