Club/Recruited from: Murray Bushrangers
Position: Midfielder
Height: 183cm
Weight: 71kg
DOB: 16 January 2004
LIVING out the childhood dream.
Oliver Hollands has been around football clubs his entire life, and he’ll now get the chance to pull on the colours of the club he supported as a kid.
The Murray Bushrangers midfielder became a Blue when his name was called out with pick No.11 in the 2022 NAB AFL Draft.
An elite runner who is just as adept in the midfield as he is distributing the Sherrin out of the back half, Hollands enjoyed an under-18 All-Australian campaign in 2022, building into the season to also showcase some strong form for Vic Country.
It was in the post-season draft combine where Hollands’ athletic traits truly came to the fore, finishing equal first in the two-kilometre time trial with a time of five minutes and 54 seconds.
The brother of Gold Coast Sun Elijah, Oliver’s dad Ben played eight games for Richmond in 1999. However, his Navy Blue ties come through his great-grandfather Martin Cross, who played 36 games for Carlton in the early 1960s.
When it comes to immediate inspiration, Hollands won’t have to look much further than Sam Walsh, who Hollands has admitted to modelling his game off — now, he can do so as a teammate.
“We’re delighted that we were able to call out Ollie’s name on draft night to welcome him to our football club,” Carlton Head of List Management Nick Austin said.
“He’s one of the best two-way runners in his draft class, as we saw in testing both pre- and post-season. He knows how to find the football and he can play a number of positions.
“But first and foremost, Ollie is a competitor. He does whatever he can for his team and he leaves nothing to chance: he’s a strong character both on and off the field.
“It’s always a nice story when a young player gets the chance to pull on the jumper of the team he supported as a kid. This is only the start of Ollie’s journey and we’re looking forward to him linking up with Michael Voss, Patrick Cripps and everyone involved in our program.”
