Michael Voss excited for Orazio Fantasia to lead Blues’ mosquito fleet

Michael Voss coached Orazio Fantasia in his time at the Power, and the Blues coach is looking forward to welcoming the former Bomber to his band of small forwards.

Carlton coach Michael Voss has backed former Power forward Orazio Fantasia to bring leadership to the Blues’ band of small forwards, determined to bolster the most inexperienced area of the club’s list.

The Blues raised eyebrows when they committed to injury-prone Fantasia on a two-year deal, trumping Greater Western Sydney who were considering him for a rookie list spot.

But Voss coached Fantasia in his time at the Power and believes he can recapture the dynamic play that made him a matchwinner at times in his early years at Essendon.

He played only 19 games in three years at Port Adelaide before being delisted on Monday night.

Orazio Fantasia will be at Carlton next year. Picture: Getty Images

GWS had an earlier pick in the rookie draft than Carlton so would have taken him off the board before Carlton.

Eventually the Blues came around to the idea of a two-year deal on the primary list on modest money that sees him returning to Victoria.

The Blues have high hopes for Jesse Motlop (19 years of age), Corey Durdin (21) and Matt Cottrell (23) and have also recruited 21-year-old Elijah Hollands to play mid-forward.

They believed it was critical to bring some experience to that area of the ground to play alongside Jack Martin and Jack Silvagni.

The Blues are also confident Fantasia can overcome knee and soft-tissue injuries.

He played nine games in the SANFL in the back-end of the season and kicked 20 goals in his final eight contests, including 10 goals in his final three games.

While the recruitment could backfire given his injury history, the extremely modest nature of his salary commitment means the Blues believe it is a risk worth taking.

Revealed: High price of new Blue’s drug possession charge

New Carlton recruit Elijah Hollands has had a three-season contact worth as much as $1 million scrapped and replaced by a single-season offer in the wake of his drug possession controversy.

Former Gold Coast midfielder Hollands escaped conviction for possessing cocaine on Tuesday, telling reporters outside court he was “extremely remorseful” for the episode.

While he dodged a conviction he must attend a drug education program after his wallet containing his driver’s licence and bag of less than one gram of cocaine was found in the casino toilets in Broadbeach.

The Blues were made aware by Hollands of his developing situation as they pursued a trade, and made the call that they would still secure him in a trade with the Suns.

That decision took three weeks of consultation from the club’s football department and saw them consulting the Carlton board, coaching staff and leadership group.

Carlton had recruited his brother Ollie 12 months previously so had an intimate knowledge of the family’s values and eventually proceeded with the deal.

In the end the Blues secured Hollands in a cut-price trade – a future third-rounder and shuffle of pick 26 back to pick 28 while also securing a future fourth-rounder in return.

But the Herald Sun understands a likely three-year deal at around $350,000 a season was also pulled, with Hollands offered only a one-year deal.

Elijah Hollands in action for Gold Coast during VFL finals. Picture: Russell Freeman/AFL Photos via Getty Images

It means Hollands has sacrificed as much as $700,000 in guaranteed cash for the 2025-26 seasons, but will be hopeful strong 2024 form can give him a chance to earn it back.

The Suns were forced to accept a lesser deal given the challenges of trading a player with a drug possession charge hanging over his head, and contributed a small part of a 2024 salary worth $300,000 or less.

The No.7 overall draft pick will hope he can prove himself at the Blues and secure another deal after a strong season.

But he is likely to serve a two-week drug ban to start the season if he concedes to the AFL integrity department he has taken an illicit drug based on the recent precedent of players including Jack Ginnivan and Bailey Smith.

Under the AFL’s illicit drugs policy players who record drug strikes have their identity kept confidential until the second strike, which results in a four-week ban.

But players whose drug-taking is outed publicly customarily secure a two-week ban for bringing the game into disrepute.

Given Hollands admitted to police that the cocaine was his for personal use, it is unlikely he will dodge that two-week AFL ban.

Hollands in action during Gold Coast’s VFL Grand Final win. Picture: Kelly Defina/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

The league and AFLPA have committed to a review of the AFL illicit drugs policy but have 12 months to come up with a new and refined policy under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement.

Hollands already was keen to return home to Melbourne for family circumstances before the drug issue arose.

The Blues said in a statement after the Herald Sun revealed the drug issue that Hollands told them about the possession charge.

“The Club was notified last month by Hollands, who was a Gold Coast Suns player at the time, given its existing interest in bringing him to the football club,” the Blues said.

“An informed decision was then made to proceed with the recruitment and the Club will now provide the necessary support to Hollands. He will commence pre-season training upon its scheduled resumption in November.”

Blues list boss Nick Austin said after the club secured Hollands that Carlton saw him playing half forward moving into the midfield.

“We are very excited to bring Elijah in to join his brother Ollie. He has got attributes we like and he’s lacked some opportunity and played a little bit out of position due to their depth.

“We see him in the front half causing some chaos and going into that midfield so it’s a good fit. He is an elite runner, he’s a strong tackler and a good ball user, so mid-forward is an area we want to bolster to compliment what we have already got and we think Elijah will do a good job there.”

Originally published as Michael Voss excited for Orazio Fantasia to lead Blues’ mosquito fleet