TO CONTEXTUALISE how the son of a former Richmond player whose brother plays for Gold Coast supports Carlton, you have to wind back the clock some 60 years ago.

That was when Martin Cross - the great-grandfather of Ollie Hollands - pulled on the Navy Blue guernsey as Carlton player No.738, and in so doing, began what Ollie’s father Ben described as a “’Bagger legacy”.

Despite Ben’s ties to the yellow and black (he played eight games for the Tigers in 1999), his mum’s side of the family have always bled blue. That connection was even more profound when Ollie officially joined his childhood club on night one of the 2022 NAB AFL Draft after weeks of speculation.

For dad Ben and Ollie himself, it was the best case scenario.

“It’s right at the top,” Ben said on draft night.

“He probably pictured this for a little while, it’s hard not to get caught up. It’s got a lot to do with my grandfather Martin Cross, who played for the Blues: the whole family on my mum’s side are Carlton supporters and that influence has stretched beyond that.

“To see Ollie called out was pretty special for all of us.”

While the Hollands family were at a pub close to home when Elijah was drafted to the Gold Coast Suns in 2020 (there was no in-person event due to Covid), Ollie and company were at Marvel Stadium, ensuring that Monday 28 November 2022 will be a date they all remember for a long time.

While the phantom drafts had linked Hollands to IKON Park for weeks, the player himself had no inclination that he was about to get his Navy Blue moment — until he saw a player who has been a source of inspiration for him in recent years.

“He hadn’t spoken to Carlton with Nick and the Club for a little while, but he got the sense he was the right player for them,” he said.

“When we saw ‘Walshy’ there, that’s when it started to feel real. Ollie has idolised what Sam has done and modelled himself a bit on his game.

“That was a really special moment for us, seeing the photo of the two of them side by side.”

Playing for the Murray Bushrangers in the NAB League, Vic Country in the 2022 NAB AFL Under-18 Championships, the AFL Academy and school football, there was a fair bit of change for Hollands throughout his 2022, but one thing remained consistent.

His highly regarded running capacity was something that Dad could attest to, claiming “I gave up trying to chase him around a long time ago”.

“He’s definitely got a hard edge to him: he’s hard to learn that, he got tagged a fair bit in school footy and he had to go win his own footy. I think that was really good for him, he grew a lot,” he said.

“He won’t shirk an issue. He’s incredibly determined and I’m incredibly proud of the way he plays.”

The next step in Hollands’ journey is earning a right to a debut, whenever that comes. For the Hollands family, it would be an added bonus if that happens to come against the Gold Coast Suns.

“It’d be nice to see him on Elijah — he has started on a wing as well. To see the two of them stand side by side would be pretty cool,” he said.

“To pull on the Navy Blue and to play his first game would be right there in the front of his mind: we’d be pumped to see that happen sooner rather than later.”