Ben Holland
Encyclopedia
Ben Holland is an Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

er in the Australian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

.

A South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

n, Holland was drafted in 1994
1994 AFL Draft
The 1994 AFL Draft consisted of a pre-season draft, a national draft, a trade period and a rookie elevation. The AFL Draft is the annual draft of talented players by Australian rules football teams that participate in the main competition of that sport, the Australian Football League.In 1994 there...

 to the Fitzroy Football Club
Fitzroy Football Club
The Fitzroy Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Lions, is an Australian rules football club formed in 1883 to represent the inner Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, Victoria and was a foundation member club of the Victorian Football League on its inception in 1897...

, but chose to stay and develop in the SANFL with his local club Nth Adelaide for a year. He was subsequently traded at the end of the 1995 season playing his first AFL game for the Richmond Football Club
Richmond Football Club
The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...

 in 1996.

At the Richmond Football Club
Richmond Football Club
The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...

, where he was used as a key forward and later back, and had a stellar 2001 season holding down centre half back while the tigers finished 3rd.

In 2004 he was traded to the Demons, where Holland blossomed again up forward alongside David Neitz and then at full back where he held many of the competitions best forwards goal less. He wears guernsey number 4 and is best known for being a tall and strong utility player.

His physical strength has seen him also play in key backline positions, a rare feat to be able to play both ends of the field during over 200 senior AFL games and kicking 180 goals.

On 31 August 2008 he played his last AFL game and subsequently retired from football.

Legal action vs. Clinton Casey

On 4 April 2008 it was announced first from The AFL Footy Show
The AFL Footy Show
The Footy Show is a Logie Award winning Australian sports television program, shown on the Nine Network and its affiliates.This show, which is dedicated to the AFL and Australian rules football, made its debut on 24 March 1994 at the same time as the other version which relates to the NRL and rugby...

 and then by various media outlets that Holland would be taking legal action against former Richmond
Richmond Football Club
The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...

 president Clinton Casey after not receiving a series of verbal promises made to him to urge him to turn down Adelaide's more lucrative offer.J

The Casey and Frawley offer was said to be covering the margin between the two offers; Richmond's $800,000 offer over three years and Adelaide's $1.33 million offer over three years. The base salary was paid however, the following lucrative promises were not:
  • Priority access to a $180,000 blocks of land at a Sandhurst
    Bendigo, Victoria
    Bendigo is a major regional city in the state of Victoria, Australia, located very close to the geographical centre of the state and approximately north west of the state capital Melbourne. It is the second largest inland city and fourth most populous city in the state. The estimated urban...

     development
  • A parcel of share
    Share (finance)
    A joint stock company divides its capital into units of equal denomination. Each unit is called a share. These units are offered for sale to raise capital. This is termed as issuing shares. A person who buys share/shares of the company is called a shareholder, and by acquiring share or shares in...

    s in a company developing a credit card insurance product that was expected to increase the market price of the company's shares on its release.
  • Podiatry work would be made available for him at various aged-care facilities in which Casey was involved.


There were also some other business ventures that Casey was involved in available to him.

There is a possibility that Richmond will exceed the AFL's salary cap
Salary cap
In professional sports, a salary cap is a cartel agreement between teams that places a limit on the amount of money that can be spent on player salaries. The limit exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both...

 as result of this and may face severe consequences including the possibility of losing draft picks in the future. E

On 4 April, the AFL announced they would be talking to all parties involved about the issue as well as the legal confrontation that was to follow. AFL chief executive officer
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...

 Andrew Demetriou
Andrew Demetriou
Andrew Demetriou is the chief executive officer of the Australian Football League and a former Australian rules footballer. He is the youngest son of Greek-Cypriot immigrants and, before becoming a VFL player, he worked in the dental import industry...

 announced the next day that if Holland were to win this case and claim what was not given to him that Richmond would be breaching the salary cap.

On 5 April, former Richmond coach (current at the time of negotiations) Danny Frawley
Danny Frawley
Danny Frawley is a former Australian rules footballer and coach and a current football commentator with Fox Sports.He is the nephew of Collingwood player Des Tuddenham and the uncle of current Melbourne Football Club player James Frawley.- Football career :Recruited from Ballarat, after attending...

said that he knew of players that had entered into property agreements with Casey, and he ,greg miller and ceo at the time mark brayshaw were all involved in property and business dealings with casey
. Frawley also said that whilst he was at the meeting involving said negotiations, no "guarantees" or "agreements" were made, simply that there was an "opportunity" for what was offered. Frawley said that despite these negotiations over property among other things did happen, Richmond did not breach the salary cap. Casey is subsequently also being sued for similar promises made to Richmond players Matthew Richardson, Nathan Brown and Kane Johnson.W

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