Carlton skipper Patrick Cripps defends club over handling of Elijah Hollands medical episode that played out on national television
Carlton captain Patrick Cripps has defended the AFL club over their handling of Elijah Hollands’ on-field mental health episode, adamant ‘he can’t speak highly enough’ about player welfare available at the Blues.
Cripps, 31, has been with Carlton since his 2014 debut, with two Brownlow Medals the highlights.
The decorated midfielder is desperate to achieve sustained team success as he approaches the twilight of his career, but it looks highly unlikely in 2026 given their woeful start this season, which has seen just one win from nine games.
Plenty of commentary has followed from the Collingwood game last month surrounding Hollands, with Cripps insisting his focus is the wellbeing of his teammate.
‘It’s always hard when something like that does occur. You never want to see that in any form of life. You want to help people as much as you can,’ he told News Corp.
‘We are so lucky as players… we [Carlton] get access to the best of the best, from high-performance [programs], medical and coaching.
Carlton captain Patrick Cripps has defended the AFL club over Elijah Hollands’ on-field mental health episode last month, adamant ‘he can’t speak highly enough’ about player welfare available at the Blues
Cripps, 31, has been with Carlton since his 2014 debut, with two Brownlow Medals the highlights. He also hopes to play out his career at the club
Plenty of commentary has followed in recent weeks surrounding Hollands, with Cripps insisting his focus is the wellbeing of his teammate
‘Since my time at Carlton, I couldn’t speak highly enough of how we get looked after and the welfare we get.’
Earlier this month, the AFL fined Carlton $75,000 for its handling of Hollands’ on-field mental health episode against Collingwood at the MCG on April 16.
The former Gold Coast Suns player, 24, was hospitalised five days later.
AFL CEO Andrew Dillon said there were visual cues and performance data to indicate the footy star ‘should have been removed from play earlier than he was’.
The failure to replace Hollands brought the game into disrepute, Dillon stated, before adding the charge was against the club, rather than individuals at Carlton.
‘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,’ he said.
‘That means we need to continue to strengthen and standardise how we respond on match day to acute mental health episodes.’
Carlton responded by stating the welfare of Hollands ‘continues to be their highest priority.’
‘Our club medical and wellbeing staff conduct themselves with the highest level of professionalism and integrity,’ Blues chief executive Graham Wright said.
‘We accept the outcome in the interest of enabling all parties to move forward.
‘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.’
On Saturday night, Carlton host the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium, with interim coach Josh Fraser in charge for the rest of the campaign following the resignation of Michael Voss this week.
