‘Shattered’ Blue feels like he let Carlton down in loss
Oliver Caffrey |
Carlton will support a “shattered” Elijah Hollands after the Blues utility expressed regret for his erratic, one-disposal performance in a close loss against Collingwood.
Hollands initially ended Thursday night’s 13.10 (88) to 12.11 (83) defeat at the MCG without registering a statistic, despite playing 75 per cent of the match across the first three quarters.
The 23-year-old was eventually awarded a possession by Champion Data in retrospect, an ineffective kick in the third term.
After failing to impact the match, Hollands was benched for most of the last quarter as Collingwood stormed home from 18 points down at the final break.
“He’s pretty shattered with his game,” Carlton coach Michael Voss said when asked if Hollands was okay.
“I spoke to him after the game and he was really disappointed with how he started.
“He was really upset and feels like he’s let me down.
“He was pretty emotional after the game.
“He didn’t play a great game and he struggled to get his way into it.”
Voss said he was in “constant conversations” with Hollands during the match.
Several videos circulated online after the match appearing to show Hollands confused and exhibiting erratic behaviour.
“He was disappointed with how he was playing, so when it comes to the last quarter, you obviously have to work out what mix you’ve got with five minutes to go and what you want on the field,” Voss said.
“He wasn’t having a great night.
“We obviously thought the best mix was to not have him out there.”
“He feels really disappointed with his performance.
“With the importance of the night, he feels like he’s let people down.
“But we just have to keep supporting people through those situations.”
Last year, Hollands twice took personal leave from Carlton, later revealing he had been battling mental ill-health and issues with alcohol.
The former Gold Coast player was delisted by the Blues at the end of last season, despite having a year to run on his contract.
But Hollands was invited to Carlton training over summer, impressing enough to win his spot back on the list.
He has played all six games this season, averaging 18.4 possessions before the concerning output against the Magpies.
Carlton slumped to 1-5, losing for a fourth time this year after having a sizeable lead during the second half.
“Carlton have been in front four times this year … we were questioning whether they could do it for four quarters,” Collingwood coach Craig McRae said.
“That’s the evidence they’ve put in front of everyone, so we wanted to play it out.
“Still, you’ve got to take your chances and you’ve got to make the most of it.
“The young lad (Talor Byrne) kicks it the end and it’s a draw, so we’re not naive to think that we’ve still got work to do.”
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