Family and friends: Nick Holman in the Gold Coast Suns rooms after the win against Western Bulldogs at TIO Stadium in Darwin. He is with Kyabram friends and family Brad Shaw, Locky Dillon, Tom Holman, Aaron Hayes, Michael Dillon, Ben Holman, Jake Parkinson, Brady Corso, Josh WIld and Tom Curnow.
Tears flowed freely at Darwin’s TIO Stadium on Saturday night when Nick Holman and the Gold Coast Suns produced a stunning win to celebrate the Kyabram recruit’s 100th AFL game.
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Holman kicked two goals in the win and, in typical fashion, laid an extraordinary 10 tackles (only one behind Bulldogs captain Marcus Bontempelli) as the greasy conditions suited the determined pressure forward.
In a tense battle the Gold Coast won by seven points in the upset result as chants of “Holman” reverberated around the oval, hailing from a group of Kyabram school and football friends who were the loudest in a stadium that also included Nick’s brothers Tom and Ben, his sister Katie and father, Peter.
The game was a highly emotional event when news spread that Holman was wearing a jumper engraved with the initials of his late mother Kylie.
The player himself didn’t know the cub had emblazoned his mother’s initials on his jumper for the clash with the Western Bulldogs until the last minute.
Kylie died suddenly 18 months ago and was front and centre in the well-documented and incredible journey her son has had to negotiate to reach the milestone.
No-one at the Gold Coast Football Club has a bad word to say about the former Kyabramite.
A teary Gold Coast coach Stuart Dew used the word “unbelievable” to describe him and teammates were unanimous in their opinion he was the club’s most popular and respected player.
Tributes don’t come any bigger than that from your peers.
Peter Holman was still in Darwin on Monday when the Free Press spoke with him as it was his his AFL footballer son’s 28th birthday.
The story of Holman’s football and life journey touched a chord with everyone, an after-match interview with Channel Seven’s Abbey Holmes leaving most viewers also teary eyed.
Holman was soon after embraced by his girlfriend Ellen and then surrounded by family and friends who had flown to Darwin especially for the occasion.
Peter Holman said he had had many messages wishing his son well before and since the event, particularly on the back of the winning result and the emotion that followed.
“We’ve had a bit of feedback from the night. There were a few tears there at different stages,” Peter said.
“Nick playing his 100th and them getting the win made it a perfect night. It would have been different if they hadn’t have got across the line.”
Holman’s footballing journey was always AFL bound, a former Murray Bushranger who won the Victoria Country’s player of the carnival award in a star-studded team in 2013.
In that team was Essendon captain Zach Merrett, St Kilda’s Zak Jones, Brisbane defender Darcy Gardiner and eventual number-one draft pick Patty McCartin.
Holman was drafted in 2013 with pick 51 by Carlton, but delisted after just nine senior games in two seasons at the end of 2015.
He played two years with Central Districts before being taken in the 2018 rookie draft by the Gold Coast. Since then he has played 91 games with the Suns.
In 2021 he spent a week in hospital when involved in a clash of bodies while playing against the Bulldogs.
His father said he copped an elbow in the stomach, which perforated his bowel, seeing him spend a week in hospital as a result.
“It was pretty nasty,” Peter said.
“It was at the same time as Dustin Martin had his kidney injury.
“No-one knew Nick was there, but they were both laid up at the same time.”
The father of four will stay in Darwin and take in next week’s game against the in-form Adelaide Crows on Saturday night.
Well played Nick Holman.
Well done son: Peter Holman and his son Nick embrace in the rooms after the Suns scored a seven-point win against the Bulldogs in Holman’s 100th game. Photo: Michael Wilson/AFL Photos
Man of the moment: Nick Holman and his girlfriend Ellen embrace following the milestone match, which was 10 years in the making as Holman made his AFL debut for Carlton in 2014. Photo: Michael Wilson/AFL Photos
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