ELIJAH Hollands was mindful when returning to the AFL stage that it wasn’t immediately going to be what it once was.

But the impatient competitor in him still felt some frustration with how he started his comeback season.

After six rounds, Hollands has already matched his games tally from a complicated 2025 season, which ended with him being delisted and ultimately earning back his spot at IKON Park following an exemplary pre-season.

Hollands was adamant that Carlton was where he wanted to be, and while the results haven’t come for the Blues so far this season, he’s loving the chance to pull on the familiar guernsey each and every week.

Speaking to Carlton Media in the lead-up to the Peter Mac Cup, Hollands believes he’s approaching somewhere near his best football after taking last month’s bye to reset after two games back.

“I feel like I’m starting to find my feet now, which is nice… I’m really enjoying being back playing,” Hollands said.

“I was trying to be cautious with being patient when trying to find my feet again. I have a high expectation of myself, so I often have impatience in terms of my own performances. I tried to be really cautious that I wasn’t going to come in and play the footy I know I can straight away.

“It’ll take time. I used the bye to reset after the first two games. Thanks to the freedom the coaches have been able to give me, I’ve started to play some good footy.”

Since the Round 2 bye, Hollands has averaged just shy of 20 disposals and over a goal a game, earning coaches’ votes in losses against Melbourne and North Melbourne in Rounds 3 and 4 respectively.

The Opening Round clash at the SCG against Sydney came nearly 300 days after Hollands’ previous game against the same opposition - which, he admits, he thought could’ve potentially been his last in Navy Blue.

“It was all up in the air. I just didn’t know,” he said.

“To be able to get back in now and play some footy out at the MCG again has been awesome. The win against Richmond was one of relief, but so much fun for me to be able to come back after nearly 12 months between games.”

The main thing eluding Hollands and the Blues now is that four-quarter performance and, in turn, that winning feeling. While there’s been plenty of commentary about the Blues in previous weeks and leading into Thursday night, Hollands knows the importance of taking each game as it comes.

“We’ve spoken about it a lot as a group about the energy that we’ve built within the four walls. A big message of what ‘Vossy’ and the group want to create is valuing what’s spoken about in here - and that’s it.

“The energy we’ve created has been fantastic and we know that things can turn pretty quickly with some of the footy we’ve been playing over the first month.

“[Collingwood] is one that is always circled in the calendar. We’re going to be ready for the fight on Thursday night.”