AFL club psychologist defends Carlton, says spending caps put players at risk
Experienced AFL club psychologist Jacqui Louder says caps on spending on medical services are putting players’ care at risk and Carlton are being “hung out to dry” over their treatment of Elijah Hollands.
Louder, who spent eight seasons at Collingwood before leaving his AFL official role this season, said he felt compelled to offer the perspective of someone who has worked directly with players in situations similar to the one the Blues faced Hollands.
“There’s a club here that needs to dry up, and no one is applauding them for the work they’ve done over the course of three years to keep this young man’s career alive,” Louder said.
“Everyone is happy to talk about mental health, but psychiatrists are in charge [coalface]. “Every day is a struggle for us.”
He said the AFL’s mental health team and psychologists in the AFL Players’ Association network were doing an outstanding job for players but the discussion should focus on the system rather than the Blues.
“The system limits medical services,” Louder said.
“When you work within a system that limits how much you can pay your professionals, you automatically limit the amount that can be paid for care. [is possible].”
“If you look across the board, we have more inexperienced practitioners than ever before… When the system does that, suddenly there are risks, and that risk is that you can’t be there 24/7 and maintain your psychology every game, every moment.”
Football’s soft cap for each club will be $7.675 million in 2026 with minimum healthcare expenses. There are also limited exemptions for mental health and welfare services.
Sitting on the bench during Collingwood games, Louder said all clubs face difficult decisions about managing players’ mental health throughout training, matches or throughout the year.
“There’s so much going on every day for psychiatrists and doctors in the system that you don’t see going out into the field, we’re just legs trying to stay under water. [a player’s] “We try to keep their respect and keep it off the field,” Louder said.
“One time unfortunately we were on the field and now they’re all jumping to their feet [and down].”
Hollands’ brother Ollie thanked Carlton for his support with an emotional social media message about Elijah.
Louder said that punishing a club was not the way to solve the problems that arose after Hollands’ erratic behavior and single possession remained on the field until late in the fourth quarter.
“You don’t give penalties when no one has deliberately done anything wrong. I’m sure there is no club that would knowingly put their players at risk but there are so many moving parts every day. We do the best we can on match day and every day,” he said.
“Sometimes you don’t know what you’re seeing. Sometimes you have to watch something happen, ‘is this it, isn’t it that?’ [OK]’, because if we do that and we pick them up off the ground then maybe we’re going to create more problems.”
Louder said the incident was meant to be a chance for the industry to improve the system.
“[I would] I really like to be treated with genuine respect. [AFL head of mental health] Kate Hall and her mental health team, as well as the wider mental health community and practitioners in sport. “We can have really robust discussions about creating change, not just debate, let’s create change and give us the power and resources to do it.”
Although the concept of a mental health tour is well-intentioned and not without merit, Louder said the priority should be to ensure the systems that support such an incentive are adequate.
“What does it represent and what should we put around that tour to make the message valuable? You can’t just take a title for a spin and say ‘that’s it, that’s it,'” Louder said.
Louder said he suspected practitioners listening to football pundits in the media discussing mental health did not always have the information needed to make informed comment.
He emphasized that this was not a criticism of the media, but a cry for people to use it as an impetus to better understand the Dutch situation.
Louder said he wants media to receive mental health first aid training as part of the accreditation process.
While he understands the media needs to scrutinize clubs and the AFL, he also wants players to be respected when a club is open about their unavailability due to mental health issues.
“We all need each other,” Louder said. “Elijah [has been] “He is brave enough to continue to put himself forward.”
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