Comedian Dave Hughes tees off after player mental health episode

During his worrying performance against Collingwood on Thursday night, Elijah Hollands was reportedly suffering from a mental health episode and not under the influence of drugs, as per the club.

While the AFL community has widely wrapped its arm around the former Gold Coast player as its chief concern, serious questions are now being asked about how and why the incident occurred.

Comedian and Carlton superfan Dave Hughes took to Instagram on Friday to voice his dissapproval with the club.

You can watch Dave Hughes’ message in the video above

“I promised myself I’d be Zen at the MCG last night and I kept that promise,” he said in an Instagram video.

“I got to the ground at quarter time because of my comedy show COOKED, when I got there my mate said we’ve got a player on the ground who is cooked right now.”

“I said ‘don’t be ridiculous this is an AFL game there’s 80,000 people here there’s no one out there cooked’. Then I started watching him,” Hughes said with a shake of the head.

“So. F*****g. Cooked. There’s a bench, he can sit on that the whole night. Say he’s got a f****n hamstring [injury]. Why leave a player on the ground who everyone can see isn’t right?

“What the f**k are you doing leadership people at Carlton? What the f**k? What the f**k are you doing? He didn’t touch the f**king ball! We lost by five points! What the f**k were you doing?!”

The Carlton midfielder, 23, did not record a disposal despite playing 60 per cent of the match as disturbing footage showed him behaving in an unusual manner at the MCG.

In the post caption Hughes made it clear he’s not blaming the player “but the club is f****n COOKED to let that happen”.

“In my 50 years of playing /watching country suburban footy I have never seen that. Diabolical leadership from this club,” Hughes wrote.

Club and AFL fans at large quickly showed out in support of Hughes condemnation in the Instagram post comments.

Chris DeGiorgio wrote “if Voss was aware and chose to do nothing, then his position is untenable. If he wasn’t aware, that raises even more concerns about his coaching. Either way this is the end.”

Fan Philip added: “Spot on Hughesy. As a parent how would you feel if that was your son and the club failed its responsibility of care.

“To have these seen by the world the kids mental health would be so difficult for him and his family. The coach is sitting on the bench next to him in the first quarter and didn’t do anything”

One person said Carlton needed a group of brave individuals “willing to stand up to the system that allowed Elijah Hollands to take the field”.

“This issue has gone beyond member and supporter disappointment, anger. It now raises grave concerns about player welfare and safety with this incompetent leadership, management, coaching decision to play Elijah.”

Michael Voss made the only public statement about Hollands’ condition after the game when the Blues coach said Hollands was “shattered” and felt he “let people down” following the five-point loss.

Now SEN’s Sam Edmund has revealed Carlton performed a thorough review of Hollands’ circumstance and is “absolutely certain” his issues are not substance-related.

The club believe Holland’s erratic behaviour was a result of mental health problems, which he has opened up about in the past.

“The Blues are absolutely certain Hollands’ issues are not substance-related, but instead prompted by complex mental health challenges that the player has previously discussed,” Edmund wrote.

“The club has taken a detailed look into Hollands’ movements in the build-up to the game and needed to be convinced the player’s actions at the MCG were not brought on by behavioural issues.

“But after investigating the circumstances and working in consultation with the AFL and medical experts, they are completely satisfied Hollands’ situation was a medical issue.”

It is understood there were no warning signs in Hollands warm-up to suggest he was in a fragile mental state.

He played 60 per cent of the game — but Blues staff became increasingly aware as the game went on that he should not be on the pitch.

Subsequently, he featured for just nine minutes in the fourth quarter.

And Carlton released a statement on Friday evening, saying: “The Carlton Football Club is continuing to provide close and ongoing care to Elijah Hollands, who suffered a mental health episode on Thursday night.

“The 23-year-old is continuing to receive the appropriate level of medical and wellbeing support, with Hollands’ welfare remaining the number one priority.

“The club also remains in contact with the AFL and the AFLPA, given the complicated nature of what occurred on Thursday night.

“While the club acknowledges the public interest, it asks that Hollands’ privacy be respected, with the primary focus on ensuring he receives the level of care he needs, before a further update can be provided at an appropriate time.”

Hollands took personal leave from the AFL last season and later confirmed this was due to mental health issues and a battle with alcohol.

He revealed during a game against Sydney in Round 10 that he suffered a “mini panic attack”.

Hollands was delisted by Carlton at the end of the 2025 campaign but still allowed to train during the off-season.

It was then confirmed during the pre-season supplemental selection period that he had been added back to the club’s rookie list.

Meanwhile, Fox Footy analyst David King expressed shock at how officials did not take action relating to Hollands’ behaviour until so late in the game.

“From a football point of view, the responsibility of the line coach or head coach to see this problem in real time and the fact it was unchecked for three quarters alarms me,” he said on SEN Breakfast.

“I don’t understand how so many people in the stadium can see he is not contributing to this game. He was not assisting his team, he couldn’t get his hands on the footy, he was rattled, he was out of position, why did he play three quarters?

“If Elijah had sat out at half time, use the bench rotations, find a way to subsidise losing that player. He offered nothing for three and a half quarters of footy. How does that happen? I don’t understand that from a line coach point of view.“ I couldn’t stop watching him, you could tell something was off.”

Click here to read article