Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
It's Stuart Waitley. Thanks for listening to the podcast. In this episode, the wash-up to the Elijah Hollins findings from the AFL.
Chapter 2: What are the Elijah Hollins findings and their implications?
Ken Hinckley and Phil Davis shared their perspectives. Melbourne Storm Chief Executive Justin Rodsky in the studio. Brad Blanks in New York. And Nerdy Stats with Peter Blucher.
Chapter 3: How do Ken Hinckley and Phil Davis view the mental health changes in AFL?
You can get in touch at any time. Waitley at sen.com.au. Thanks for listening. Enjoy.
Chapter 4: What insights does Justin Rodski share about the Melbourne Storm?
Wednesday morning. This is your town. This is your station.
Chapter 5: Where is Brad Blanks reporting from and what are his latest updates?
This is Waitley. Good morning.
Chapter 6: What are the nerdy stats shared by Peter Blucher?
One of the most unsettling episodes we've seen on the footy field will have a long tail. Far beyond the spectacle of the moment and the tension of the day. Elijah Holland's mental health episode on the MCG during Thursday night footy three weeks ago will prompt landmark change in the mental health care of players in the AFL.
This was always likely to be far more significant than any punishment, although the sanction was severe. The AFL had judged Carlton culpable for allowing Hollands to play at such length, given the state he was in. Carlton has accepted no responsibility or failure, but paid the fine to end the saga. It was plain to see from the stands Hollands shouldn't have been on the field.
It was found Carlton missed those signs and was too slow to act. The player and the game were exposed to scenes that never should have taken place. Carlton was held responsible for the disrepute suffered. The Blues honourably shielded their staff and lawyers negotiated the final terms. And in this case, that's OK. Scapegoating individuals has never worked in the past.
Melbourne wasn't fine for tanking, but individuals were singled out disastrously. Far better to take a whole-of-club approach. Precisely what happened on the Thursday night of round six will not be revealed by anyone other than Hollands himself. And that's the way that it should be. It's one thing to want to know, but there's no right to know here. It's enough to know it shouldn't have happened.
And the footy industry will now invest millions upon millions of dollars into mental health care. The clubs haven't yet got a full grasp of what will be required, but it will be significant adjustment to the salary cap that will need to meet those demands. The AFL needs to aid clubs here, not simply make demands.
The best and most altruistic result of yesterday's recommendations will improve the lot of every player in the league, and that would be profound. The worst result would be an increase in bureaucracy where well-intentioned ideals become onerous and costly. It will all be in the implementation. From a most unfortunate episode, much good might come. That will take significant time to judge.
But the message yesterday was clear. What transpired with Elijah Hollins should never have happened and must never be allowed to happen again.
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Chapter 7: How is player mental health being addressed in the AFL?
Having reviewed Carlton's report and conducted further inquiries, we found that there were sufficient visual cues, performance data during the match and an understanding of Elijah's individual circumstances to indicate that he should have been removed from play earlier than he was.
We also determined that the delay in removing Elijah from the field resulted in an outcome that brought the game into disrepute. These findings have been made against the Carlton Football Club collectively, not against any individual. We looked at previous instances where there'd been collective responsibility from clubs and looked at it based on that, and it's a substantial sanction.
The club's accepted it. We acknowledge that this is difficult.
This is a difficult situation for everyone involved and we don't want to see it happen again.
Elijah's health and wellbeing remains the top priority for the club. We stand in unwavering support of our medical staff and our wellbeing staff who have conducted themselves with the utmost professionalism and integrity. We accept the outcome in the interest of all parties moving forward. While continuing to ensure the health and wellbeing of our people remains a priority,
Given there is an ongoing WorkSafe inquiry, we won't be making any further comment.
The tension between Carlton and the AFL remains clear, but the AFL's determination of what the future looks like was equally so yesterday. You'll have your views. The open line is 1300 736 736. The 40 Wings temper text is 0433 98 11 16. The difference is temper. We'll get the view from the players' perspective with the eminently sensible Phil Davis later in the morning.
And we start with the art of coaching with Ken Hinckley. Kenny, welcome. Good morning, Gerard. How are you today? I'm well, I'm well. How did you take in what came from the AFL yesterday? Ultimately, I took in that there's a better future for mental health. That's what I took in.
And I didn't want to look back and reflect back onto who's done what or who hasn't done what when it comes to the previous game with Elijah involved in. So I think the reality is that going forward, it'll be a safer place for AFL players and for AFL staff, not just players, because mental health is a full, broad, unfortunately, across the whole of the competition, the whole of the public.
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Chapter 8: What are the challenges faced by Carlton FC this season?
It doesn't happen like that. You know, to have a full-time psych at a club is a plus, but my experience would tell me that ā just having one option is not necessarily the best option. So that's where the AFL will, you know, it'll be okay to say we've got a psych on at Clubland now. And they were pushing towards that. It was three quarters.
I reckon it was nearly three days a week when I was there and finishing up and it became full time. And a lot of that was taken out of the soft case. Like you meant your medical staff as well, your doctors. And, you know, we're not getting the best doctors now because of the cost of and the incomes that they earn outside of AFL football, I think some of the challenges we've got to realise is that
These professionals earn, you know, high-level money and so they should because they've gone through their, you know, their studies to get to this level. But we need to understand from a club land that one professional might not work. You know, we've got boys and girls in our programs now and there's a lot of things that you have to consider about each individual's mental health.
If we want to have a, you know, I don't think we could ever have a mistake-free program. But if we can eliminate as much as we possibly can so we don't have to witness what happened in the past couple of weeks. Should the medical spend be removed from the soft cap? Absolutely, it should be. But we're not a very trustworthy organisation, are we?
Because we think someone's going to try and exploit it somehow.
Yeah.
Now, I don't know how we can, but if we just employ the best doctors, the best physios, you know, there's all sorts of things here. There's not just mental health, podiatrists. There's so many things that go into the preparation performance of a person to be able to play our game. And there's just so many things that you need to give them the best chance. We want the best product.
And to get the best product, it costs you a certain amount. And I think there's so many things that could ā and I think that's where the problem is. Does the AFL trust clubs? I mean, because in the past, I think there was a view, I think, from AFL House that we just spend too much money and we waste money.
I mean, I'm not sure how the AFL absolutely would know that if they're not working at club land closely and experiencing what the ā yeah, I'm sure there was waste. I'm sure there was money that could have been spent more wisely from some clubs. But I was at a club who made sure every penny counted.
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