Originally from Harrow in country Victoria, Houlihan moved to South Australia with his mother after his parents' separated, and played for Goolwa Football Club and Goolwa /Port Elliot in South Australia's Great Southern Football League.
[1] He and his mother, a nurse, later moved to Kaltjiti (Fregon), a community in the APY lands in the state's far north, before finally returning to Victoria, where he played for Harrow Balmoral in the Horsham & District Football League.
He was also a talented junior distance runner, winning the 1500m and 3000m races at the 2005 national championships.
[2] Playing for the North Ballarat Rebels in the under-18 TAC Cup,[3] Houlihan recorded the best times in the beep test and 3km time trial at the 2006 AFL Draft Camp,[4] and was subsequently selected by West Coast with pick 43 in the 2006 National Draft.
He had been knocked out in the last round of the previous season, following a sling tackle, although he had suffered several other concussions throughout his career.