Carlton withdrew three-year offer to Elijah Hollands

[GVGjr]

Carlton withdrew three-year offer to Elijah Hollands

Elijah Hollands drug possession charge has cost the Carlton recruit hundreds of thousands on his contract, with the Blue dodging a conviction in court on Tuesday.

New Carlton recruit Elijah Hollands has had a three-season contact worth as much as $1 million scrapped and replaced by a single-season offer in the wake of his drug possession controversy.

Former Gold Coast midfielder Hollands escaped conviction for possessing cocaine on Tuesday, telling reporters outside court he was extremely remorseful for the episode.

While he dodged a conviction he must attend a drug education program after his wallet containing his driver's licence and bag of less than one gram of cocaine was found in the casino toilets in Broadbeach.

The Blues were made aware by Hollands of his developing situation as they pursued a trade, and made the call that they would still secure him in a trade with the Suns.

That decision took three weeks of consultation from the club?s football department and saw them consulting the Carlton board, coaching staff and leadership group.

Carlton had recruited his brother Ollie 12 months previously so had an intimate knowledge of the family?s values and eventually proceeded with the deal.

In the end the Blues secured Hollands in a cut-price trade a future third-rounder and shuffle of pick 26 back to pick 28 while also securing a future fourth-rounder in return.

But the Herald Sun understands a likely three-year deal at around $350,000 a season was also pulled, with Hollands offered only a one-year deal.

It means Hollands has sacrificed as much as $700,000 in guaranteed cash for the 2025-26 seasons, but will be hopeful strong 2024 form can give him a chance to earn it back.

The Suns were forced to accept a lesser deal given the challenges of trading a player with a drug possession charge hanging over his head, and contributed a small part of a 2024 salary worth $300,000 or less.

The No.7 overall draft pick will hope he can prove himself at the Blues and secure another deal after a strong season.

But he is likely to serve a two-week drug ban to start the season if he concedes to the AFL integrity department he has taken an illicit drug based on the recent precedent of players including Jack Ginnivan and Bailey Smith.

Under the AFL's illicit drugs policy players who record drug strikes have their identity kept confidential until the second strike, which results in a four-week ban.

But players whose drug-taking is outed publicly customarily secure a two-week ban for bringing the game into disrepute.

Given Hollands admitted to police that the cocaine was his for personal use, it is unlikely he will dodge that two-week AFL ban.

The league and AFLPA have committed to a review of the AFL illicit drugs policy but have 12 months to come up with a new and refined policy under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement.

Hollands already was keen to return home to Melbourne for family circumstances before the drug issue arose.

The Blues said in a statement after the Herald Sun revealed the drug issue that Hollands told them about the possession charge.

The Club was notified last month by Hollands, who was a Gold Coast Suns player at the time, given its existing interest in bringing him to the football club, the Blues said.

An informed decision was then made to proceed with the recruitment and the Club will now provide the necessary support to Hollands. He will commence pre-season training upon its scheduled resumption in November.?

Blues list boss Nick Austin said after the club secured Hollands that Carlton saw him playing half forward moving into the midfield.

We are very excited to bring Elijah in to join his brother Ollie. He has got attributes we like and he?s lacked some opportunity and played a little bit out of position due to their depth.

We see him in the front half causing some chaos and going into that midfield so it's a good fit. He is an elite runner, he's a strong tackler and a good ball user, so mid-forward is an area we want to bolster to compliment what we have already got and we think Elijah will do a good job there.

[bornadog]

So Carlton knew of the impeding charge, but still traded for him, however, they have taken the opportunity to screw him over with his contract. Very strange.

[mjp]

I get what Carlton have done here but they've turned a 'buy low, moneyball-style' selection into a bit of a problem.

Why not change the contract such that it terminated in the event of another incident? Reducing it to one year? If Hollands has the sort of year the club obviously believed he could, the $ on the contract are going to be way unders...Sacrificing $700k in guaranteed cash? Yeah, sure...he's going to be worth 50% more than that if he gets inside mid time (he will) and gets 25+ per game...

I don't understand this.

[bulldogtragic]

So Carlton knew of the impeding charge, but still traded for him, however, they have taken the opportunity to screw him over with his contract. Very strange.

I read it as they were chasing him with a three year offer. Then he was caught out. They chased him still, but withdrew the three years and only offered one. They knew if the charge before the trade occurring so I don’t think they would’ve put the contract in at three years and made it contingent on the media not finding out. But it’s not well written. I had to read it a few times to clarify exactly what they mean. This is where I landed anyway?!?

[GVGjr]

So Carlton knew of the impeding charge, but still traded for him, however, they have taken the opportunity to screw him over with his contract. Very strange.

It wouldn't surprise me that differing information came to light from what Carlton were told prior to the trade and then what was mentioned in the sentencing.
You can't change contracts without very good reasons or if a clause in the contract has been broken.

[ledge]

So it looks like Carlton didn’t do their due diligence but claims are they knew about it so if they did, they offered the 3 years to get him with a clause in it to get them out of two years of it.
I am backing Hollands will be very good next year and want out after it, they screwed him over.
Be nice to know the actual truth.

[Axe Man]

I read it as they were chasing him with a three year offer. Then he was caught out. They chased him still, but withdrew the three years and only offered one. They knew if the charge before the trade occurring so I don’t think they would’ve put the contract in at three years and made it contingent on the media not finding out. But it’s not well written. I had to read it a few times to clarify exactly what they mean. This is where I landed anyway?!?

This. I'm not understanding the confusion here, seems pretty straightforward to me.

[hujsh]

This. I'm not understanding the confusion here, seems pretty straightforward to me.

"But the Herald Sun understands a likely three-year deal at around $350,000 a season was also pulled, with Hollands offered only a one-year deal."

Yeah it's in pretty plain detail right there. They knew, offered a one year deal and offered less at the trade table because of it. Though like mjp I'm not sure how that benefits them, if you don't think this 21 year old is going to be at the club in 2-3 years and improving such that 350k is a bargain for you then why are you bothering to recruit him? What part of a drug possession charge makes it less likely he'll be with you in 2026? Do you not think AFL players regularly possess drugs or is it just that he's shown he's not smart enough to avoid getting caught?

[Sedat]

Fair play to Carlton as far as I'm concerned. Hollands has hopefully learned a valuable lesson that if you play stupid games, you win stupid prizes.

Anyway he is guaranteed to earn 300-odd thousand next year doing something he loves, with a chance to earn much more in the future if he simply knuckles down, puts the work in and has a breakout season. He is one of the most privileged people in the world.

[GVGjr]

The one year deal carries some risk but if he has a good season he may be able to command an even bigger deal going forward. Let's hopbhe knuckles down.

[Testekill]

Oh my god, Elijah Hollands got charged with possession because he left his wallet and his coke in a Gold Coast Casino bathroom.

[bornadog]

Oh my god, Elijah Hollands got charged with possession because he left his wallet and his coke in a Gold Coast Casino bathroom.

For starters, what an idiot for leaving his wallet and drugs in a bathroom.

[Twodogs]

For starters, what an idiot for leaving his wallet and drugs in a bathroom.

Happened to a friend of mine years ago. She left her purse on a train and a few days later the police rang her and said "someone handed in your purse. It was found on a train, can you come and collect it?"

When she got to the cop shop the desk sergeant pulled a baggie with white powder (it was speed which was very common back then) out and said "we want to talk about this" My friend was half expecting it to happen and said "nup. Never seen it before. Sorry" it was way back in the '80s and DNA/fingerprint technology was nowhere near as sophisticated as it is now so they just let it slide.

[macca]

Fair play to Carlton as far as I'm concerned. Hollands has hopefully learned a valuable lesson that if you play stupid games, you win stupid prizes.

Anyway he is guaranteed to earn 300-odd thousand next year doing something he loves, with a chance to earn much more in the future if he simply knuckles down, puts the work in and has a breakout season. He is one of the most privileged people in the world.

He just needs to get his act together for 12 months and walk to the PSD. This may back fire on the blues

[EasternWest]

Oh my god, Elijah Hollands got charged with possession because he left his wallet and his coke in a Gold Coast Casino bathroom.

That's delicious