“While Elijah has been engaged with the football program,quite rightly it is our care for him as a person which matters most,so this period of leave will allow him to focus on himself,and he will be afforded as much time as he needs to do that.”

Hollands played 22 matches for Carlton last season after five and nine matches respectively for Gold Coast in the previous two years.

McRae’s interaction with Neal-Bullen ‘a bit much’,says Gawn

Scott Spits

Melbourne captain Max Gawn says Collingwood premiership coach Craig McRae “has form” with his verbal attacks on opposition players from the sidelines,but the leading ruckman is unsure whether AFL coaches should be severely punished for such interactions.

McRaeescaped financial sanction for his verbal exchange with a Giants player and GWS coach Adam Kingsley during Sunday’s game at Engie Stadium in Sydney.

Instead,the league warned McRae about his behaviour on the bench when he called out GWS’ Toby Bedford.

“If I was getting tagged I wouldn’t mind Goody[Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin] standing up for me,” Gawn said on Triple M radio on Tuesday.

McRae’s sideline comments to Bedford,who had been tagging Nick Daicos and was involved in an off-the-ball incident with Reef McInnes where he gave away a free kick,prompted Kingsley to walk towards McRae on the bench and call back at him.

The pair,who previously worked together as assistant coaches at Richmond,shook hands after the match.

“I’ve been involved in a few[incidents involving coaches],to be fair. I was the target player a couple of times in the Port[Adelaide] games and Ken[Hinkley] would have a few choice words to me,” Gawn told Triple M.

“He[Hinkley] has got form. Craig[McRae] has form. Craig went hard at Alex Neal-Bullen,who was tagging[Nick] Daicos last year for us. I have never seen Goody[Simon Goodwin] do it,personally. I’ve been on the bench when he’s had a go at an umpire maybe from a long way out,but not in terms of opposition players.”

McRae’s official warning wasa contrast to the fine for Hinkley for his sledge of Hawthorn’s Jack Ginnivan and aircraft mime after Port’s semi-final victory last year. Hinkley was fined $20,000 for the on-field exchange.

Gawn said McRae’s words with former Demon Neal-Bullen last year were “a bit much”.

“I sort of sit on the fence a bit,” Gawn said.“On the AFL clearing him[McRae] .... I would agree that they should be cleared,and most coaches do do it,but Craig had some choice words last time we tagged Daicos.

“But when your best player is getting tagged,and sometimes it can be quite a ferocious tag ... If I was getting tagged,I wouldn’t mind Goody standing up for me.”

AFL audits Geelong’s player payments

Peter Ryan

The AFL is auditing Geelong’s salary cap and third-party deals as other clubs continue to ponder how the Cats structure their player payments.

The league confirmed the process in a statement and competition sources said the Cats were one of two clubs being audited over the off-season.

“The AFL conducts regular salary cap audit activities across a number of clubs every year as part of our annual salary cap compliance process. We do not provide commentary on the conduct or progress of any of these activities and the only time we release any information publicly is if we determine there has been a breach of AFL rules.”

St Kilda coach Ross Lyon put the topic on the agenda at a Saints function late last year when he said he thought the Cats leveraged their relationship with retail business and sponsor Cotton On to retain and attract talent.

“Everything we are doing on and off the field with the support of our major sponsors and our private guys are leaning in to create opportunities,like Cotton On do for Geelong,” Lyon said at the club function in November.

“They help the partners,they help the families on and off the field.”

The Cats also came under scrutiny when an existing deal between club sponsor Morris Finance and their coach Chris Scott was looked at after the Geelong-based business advertised that Scott had been appointed to the role of Morris Finance chief of leadership and performance.Two club sources said the deal between Scott and Morris Finance,which had been in place for several years,had not changed.

The money from the deal was included in the marketing component of the senior coach’s wage,but it remained unclear whether any money went into the soft cap.

Recruit Bailey Smith also has a marketing deal with Cotton On,which he signed while playing with the Western Bulldogs. Geelong have managed to recruit big-name players regularly from other clubs including Patrick Dangerfield (Adelaide),Jeremy Cameron (GWS) and Zach Tuohy (Carlton) and were in the market for Melbourne’s Clayton Oliver last season. They alsomet with the Suns’ Matt Rowell over the off-season.

Melbourne star Christian Petracca is another recent example of a player who has a personal deal with a club sponsor,yoghurt company YoPRO.

As reported on Monday by this masthead,Petracca appears on YoPRO packaging in his Melbourne jumper and kicking a Sherrin football,so those payments must be lodged under additional services agreements (ASAs),which enable players to earn extra income beyond their base salary for promotional and marketing activities. Each club has a cap on the total amount it can spend on these agreements.

However,Petracca also appears in a YoPRO Instagram video in normal clothes without any AFL “intellectual property”,such as a jumper or logo. In that case,the 29-year-old can accept money outside ASAs.

The league’s player payments team is auditing clubs other than Geelong in a less forensic manner and does so every season.

Luckless Swan Adams ruled out of grand final rematch

Vince Rugari

Taylor Adams was the heartbreak story of Sydney’s march to the grand final last season – dumped from their team late in the year,and unable to find his way back in. Now he will miss Saturday’s rematch against the Brisbane Lions,and probably a couple more games after that,due to injury.

Adams’ hopes of establishing himself in the Swans’ best midfield over the first part of 2025 were dashed in the final quarter of Friday night’s 20-point defeat to Hawthorn when he came off with what the club later described as hamstring “tightness”,clutching at his right leg immediately after being chased down by Jack Scrimshaw.

Scans have since revealed that the 31-year-old will be sidelined for the next three to four weeks,ruling him out of this weekend’s clash at the SCG and their trip to face Fremantle the following week.

“Which is unfortunate for him and the footy team,” said coach Dean Cox on Tuesday. “He’s an experienced player,so he’ll deal with it as best as he possibly can. We thought he was going to play an important role for us,certainly in the early part of the year. He’ll just have to rehab now ... it creates an opportunity for somebody else.”

The Swans are already missing two of their prime movers in midfield,with captain Callum Mills (foot) and Errol Gulden (ankle) already injured,the latter unlikely to feature until the second half of the season. Key forward Logan McDonald,too,is a month away from returning from an ankle issue,as is defender Harry Cunningham (foot) and utility Robbie Fox (calf),and all are nailed-on first 23 players.

The contrast with last year - when the Swans had a dream pre-season on the injury front and blitzed to a 15-1 record halfway through the season,on course to the minor premiership and a grand final appearance - is stark.

What happened after that,they are still dealing with.

The wounds left by their 60-point defeat to the Lions were so deep,they prompted John Longmire to end his tenure as senior coach and hand the reins to his long-time lieutenant Cox – and one of his first moves was to sit the team through a brutal review of their grand final performance.

It took a full day,and the first minute of the match took an hour.

“The way we defended,the way we transitioned and how switched on we were – that probably stood out from the start,” Cox said. “That’s why it took a while. Against any team,if you’re doing that,you’re going to give them every chance to exploit what you’re trying to do.

“We’ve got to make sure,first of all,we’re fierce around the contest. They’re the number one contested possession team. That was from last year,that’s what they showed against Adelaide[in a practice match],they’ve got some unbelievable talent through that area of the ground as well. That’s the first part I’ll be looking at.”

Dons extend Scott’s contract,round one debut for Kako

Marc McGowan

Essendon coach Brad Scott believes his one-year contract extension – which ties him to the club until the end of 2027 – is a show of stability the Bombers have lacked in recent times.

Scott is the ninth senior coach at Essendon since four-time premiership coach Kevin Sheedy’s legendary 27-year reign ended in 2007,and the extension will take him into a fifth season in charge. John Worsfold is the only Bombers coach since Sheedy to coach them for that many seasons.

“The club has approached me about extending for another year,to show stability that the club has been yearning for,for a long time,” Scott said.

“This[was not] anywhere near my thinking. I’ve been focused on what we need to do right now,and what we’ve done over the last two years.

“I think it shows commitment to the cause,right from board and CEO,down to football department,and shows the players that we’ve got great confidence in what we’re building here.”

Essendon will start their 2025 season on Friday night against Hawthorn after a false start last week,when the prospect of Cyclone Alfred saw the AFL postpone their scheduled clash with Gold Coast to round 24.

“We had some very clear parameters around what we wouldn’t accept. Originally,it was put to us that we’d lose our round 16 bye,which was just a non-negotiable for us,” Scott said.

“We stood very firm on that as a footy club,and on the surface that looked like a pretty simple solution to the fixture,but to us,losing our bye and playing 20 home-and-away games in a row was not something we were prepared to tolerate.

“This is the next-best alternative. It’s not ideal,but neither is a cyclone.”

Top-10 draftee Isaac Kako,a Next Generation Academy graduate at the Bombers,will make his AFL debut against the Hawks,while former Lion Jaxon Prior is also going to play after signing as a delisted free agent in the off-season.

Prior’s father,Michael,played 81 of his 90 AFL games for Essendon.

“We’re really excited[about Kako],but he’s ready. It feels like Isaac’s been part of the fabric around here since he was 14 years of age,” Scott said.

“[Playing] the first game of his career is a great achievement,but it’s felt like a long build for him. He’s an extremely level-headed young man. He’s a very good player,he’s really capable,he stands out,and he’s already a fan favourite.

“He’s shown a remarkable ability to focus on what we want him to focus on,and he doesn’t shy away from the big stage either.”

Luckless Lion set for another injury lay-off

Scott Spits

Veteran Brisbane Lions forward Lincoln McCarthy – who missed the club’s 2024 premiership – has ruptured the ACL in his right knee for the second time in 10 months,putting his 2025 campaign in severe doubt.

McCarthy had returned to playing during the pre-season and was pushing for an AFL return in round one this weekend.

But the 31-year-old reported swelling and soreness in his knee and was sent for scans,which confirmed the injury.

“It’s incredibly disappointing and heartbreaking for Linc,his family and everyone at the Brisbane Lions to see him injure his ACL again,” said Lions general manager of football Danny Daly.

“But we have all been so impressed with the way Linc dealt with his last ACL injury and how committed he was to return,so we have no doubt he will tackle this injury with the same attitude.”

Other Lions to have suffered ACL injuries in the past 12 months include Tom Doedee,Keidean Coleman and Darcy Gardiner.

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