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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Birth | 29 July 1974 |
| Recruited from | North Adelaide Football Club (SANFL) |
| Playing career¹ | |
| Debut | Round 3, 8 April 1994, Hawthorn vs. North Melbourne, at Melbourne Cricket Ground |
| Team(s) | Hawthorn (1994-2005)
179 games, 239 goals |
| ¹ Statistics to end of 2005 season | |
| Career highlights | |
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Nick Holland (born 29 July 1974) is an Australian rules football player.
Contents |
Holland was recruited in the 1992 AFL Draft as a centre half-forward for the Hawthorn Football Club. He took out the AFL Rising Star award in 1995 - though is widely regarded alongside Daniel Pierce to be the worst player to win the award.
Holland played his first two games in his debut year at full- back and although not given another game for that season he returned as a centre half forward the following year and it was in that role that he found his niche. His progress in 1995 earned the Norwich Rising Star Award and a second placing in the Best and Fairest award.
His strong and prolific marking at centre half forward made him the focal point of a struggling Hawk attack. The former North Adelaide player was notorious for his wayward kicking style and shanked a kick from the goal square as a full back.
The clubs leading goalkicker in 1997 and 2000, he was vital to Hawthorns success or failure and that was illustrated in 1999 when he had a slow start to the season and Hawthorn faltered.
In 2000 he shared the Peter Crimmins Trophy for the Hawks' best and fairest player with Daniel Chick, however from there Holland suffered from injury and experienced a steady decline. His 2001 Campaign was plagued by shoulder and thigh injuries, but he returned in time for the finals, yet struggled to ake an impact. He had signed a back-ended contract, worth millions over four years, with the Hawks in late 2001 after shoulder injuries, however injury and form problems meant he did not deliver on the investment made by his club. Although he had allegedly turned down a greater offer from Port Adelaide in 1998. He has a lesser known brother (yet equally litigious), Ben who ultimately played more games (for Richmond and Melbourne).
In 1998 he was selected for the Australian v Ireland International Rules Match.
He represented South Australia four times from 1996 - 1999 and was Vice Captain in 1998.
In April of that year The Age ran a story saying that Holland would never play AFL again and would be kept in the reserves with the Box Hill Hawks. Holland came back and played the next week, but it was one of only 3 games he played for that year, to mediocre effect - as he struggled to match the performances of first year players Jarryd Roughead and Lance Franklin.
During Round 15 in July 2005, Holland appeared on SEN 1116's VFL coverage in an interview that hit out at Hawthorn's selectors and their youth policy. Holland indicated his frustration at not being selected. Holland was also critical of coach Alastair Clarkson after previously criticising prior coach Peter Schwab for giving him a lack of opportunity. Holland was playing in a game for Box Hill when he dislocated his left shoulder. He threatened to nominate for the draft yet this plan was halted after gaining little interest from other clubs.
His shoulder ensured that there would be no farewell game. However, in the round 22 game against Sydney, Holland was driven around the MCG to a mixed reaction from Hawks fans. At the end of the season, Holland announced his retirement from AFL football after 13 years at Hawthorn Football Club. He is currently pursuing a career in Law (with Holding Redlich) and in Media with sports radio station SEN, and is a regular, if stuttering contributor to ABC Unleashed. He also regularly plays in the Whitten Legends match, for which he is paid.
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| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Chris Scott |
AFL Rising Star 1995 |
Succeeded by Ben Cousins |
| Preceded by Shane Crawford |
Hawthorn Best and Fairest winner (tied) 2000 |
Succeeded by Joel Smith |
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