John Ready (@john-ready.bsky.social)

How was Elijah Hollands allowed to keep playing during a ‘mental health episode’? | Jonathan Horn Leadership, on and off the field, was lacking at the MCG and any investigation must ascertain whether Carlton fulfilled its duty of care The weekend of football threw up great dollops of drama and pathos. One of the tallest and most talented players in the sport buckled like a stricken baby giraffe. Arguably the best footballer in Australia was blanketed by an Irishman. The heart and soul of his club copped a knee to the head that may spell the end of his career. In Adelaide, 46,000 people stood to acknowledge a family that had lost a brother and a son. We see variations of that every weekend. We see knee injuries and head knocks. We see teams squander winning leads. We see coaches fighting for their jobs. We see the brilliance of players like Nick Daicos, Nick Watson and Jeremy Cameron. It’s all neatly packaged, all easily explained, and all what keeps drawing us back. What we almost never see, and what’s harder to manage, to diagnose and to articulate, is what took place at the MCG on Thursday night. It didn’t come through the filtered lens of the host broadcasters or the curated feeds of the club itself, but through grainy footage from high in the stands. Continue reading... https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2026/apr/19/elijah-hollands-afl-mental-health-episode-how-was-he-allowed-to-keep-playing?CMP=aus_bsky