Channel 7 reporter Mitch Cleary shuts down ugly Clayton Oliver rumour

Channel 7 reporter Mitch Cleary has set the record straight after being caught up in an ugly rumour about injured Demons star Clayton Oliver.

Seven reporter Mitch Cleary (R) was caught up in the Clayton Oliver rumour. Pic: Getty

Channel 7 sports reporter Mitch Cleary has set the record straight after being caught up in an ugly rumour circulating about injured Demons star Clayton Oliver.

The Melbourne midfielder has been out of action with a hamstring strain and an infected blister that forced him to spend five days in hospital.

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After the 26-year-old was left out of Thursday night’s loss to Geelong as he continues to recover, the rumour mill went into overdrive suggesting behavioural issues were behind his stint on the sideline.

One doctored tweet claimed to show Channel 7’s Mitch Cleary reporting Oliver had in fact been sidelined due to the AFL’s illicit drugs policy.

Clayton Oliver of the Demons speaks with medical staff about his injured hamstring. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Clayton Oliver was at the centre of an ugly rumours. (Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)

The ugly rumour forced Cleary into action on Friday as he wrote on Twitter: “For the record – there is a fake tweet, photoshopped to mimic my account circulating about Clayton Oliver. It has never appeared on my Twitter account because it has nothing to do with me. I had no knowledge of it until I was contacted by Melbourne FC.

“7 News has since gone out of its way to report the club’s very strong denials in a bid to clear up this wild speculation.”

For the record - there is a fake tweet, photoshopped to mimic my account circulating about Clayton Oliver.
It has never appeared on my Twitter account because it has nothing to do with me.
I had no knowledge of it until I was contacted by Melbourne FC. (1/2)

— Mitch Cleary (@cleary_mitch) June 23, 2023

Oliver also appeared on 7NEWS on Friday to hit out at the sad situation.

“It’s a bit disappointing. It probably doesn’t affect me too much, I’m pretty relaxed with all that sort of stuff,” Oliver said.

“We’re building such a great culture and a really good environment (at Melbourne) and it’s not something we want to be associated with.

“It’s a bit disappointing someone’s gone along with that.”

Earlier on Friday, Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin hit out at the “garbage” speculation over Oliver - who could miss another match with a hamstring complaint.

Mitch Cleary was forced to shut down the rumour. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Goodwin had already pointed out the impact spending five days in hospital treating the infected blister had on Oliver’s fitness and said he would also need another scan on his hamstring before being cleared to play.

“There’s a lot been spoken about Clayton in the past 48 hours and a lot of it is incorrect,” Goodwin said.

“Clayton had a hamstring strain against Port Adelaide and then got an infected foot, spent six nights in hospital and as he’s come back into training in the past eight days, his hamstring is tight. He’ll have scans tomorrow.

“Anyone that thinks they know better than that, come and walk in our environment and find out.

“He’s off for a hamstring scan tomorrow and we’re hopeful he can continue to progress his training to a certain level, but he’s not quite there yet.

“That’s not the type of player that you risk.

“But for all the other rubbish that’s out there, it’s just garbage, so hope we can put that one to bed.”

Simon Goodwin was fuming at the speculation. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Oliver’s manager, Nick Gieschen, also told the Gettable podcast that Oliver was in a “pretty bad way” when he was in hospital with the infection.

“I saw him not last week, the week before,” Gieschen said.

“He was in a pretty bad way. When he said that he had an infection, I didn‘t realise how bad it was. I went to see him in hospital and he was laying on the bed and his foot was up, all bandaged. From what he’s said, it was quite painful.

“Obviously, it’s still causing him some issues even now.”

Oliver’s absence was telling in Melbourne’s loss that left Goodwin bitterly disappointed.

Goodwin bemoaned his team’s inability to sustain pressure as Geelong effectively doubled its score in the final term to run out 15-point winners after trailing by seven points at the final break.

“For three quarters … we were right on track, but we’re very disappointed (and) walk away knowing that was a game that was up for grabs,” Goodwin said.

“But we lost the arm wrestle and we lost the game.

“It’s something we want to be strong at. But to be the best you’ve got to sustain it for four quarters and Geelong in the last quarter was sensational … and we weren’t.

Goodwin said ruckman Brodie Grundy had been assessed for concussion but returned to play in the third quarter after 20 minutes off the ground after being given clearance.

Originally published as Channel 7 reporter Mitch Cleary shuts down ugly Clayton Oliver rumour