By Marc McGowan
Melbourne’s never-ending year of drama left list boss Tim Lamb unsure whether the under-siege Demons remain an attractive option for prospective recruits and unable to answer key questions about their handling of the Clayton Oliver trade saga.
In a fiery and at-times-awkward press conference, Lamb shut down the possibility of the star midfielder playing elsewhere next year while facing a barrage of questions on the opening day of trade period.
That followed interim club president and former captain Brad Green declaring at last week’s best-and-fairest function that Oliver would be a Demon next year.
Oliver met with Geelong last week after word spread that Melbourne chief executive Gary Pert had asked opposition clubs whether there was any interest in the four-time club champion. However, Lamb said it was “inaccurate” to suggest they had “shopped” him around.
None of Green, Pert or football boss Alan Richardson has answered questions about Oliver, beyond the club releasing a statement from Richardson after this masthead revealed the 27-year-old was on the market.
Geelong did not shut the door on recruiting Oliver on Monday.
“We’re really clear and respectful on Melbourne’s position on that,” Cats list boss Andrew Mackie said, adding that the chat with Oliver at Rhys Stanley’s farm was a “get-to-know-you” meeting. Oliver came away from that meeting adamant he wanted to join Geelong’s star-studded midfield.
“This is a window where you try to look at all sorts of things for your list,” Mackie said.
It is the second-straight year that a potential Oliver trade has dominated headlines leading into the annual player movement period, only for the Demons to say he was staying put.
“This time of year, there are a lot of conversations with a lot of clubs about a lot of things. I’m not going to go into details about who was spoken about,” Lamb said.
“We have a really united list management group, and any conversation that’s had with any club about a player comes back to that list management group … [but] our position has never changed. We’ve never been trading Clayton, and we won’t be.”
Melbourne have lurched from one controversy to another in a hellish 12-month period, as they tumbled from their drought-busting 2021 premiership to consecutive straight-sets finals exits, then a stunning fall from grace to finish 14th this year.
Oliver, a triple All-Australian, premiership midfielder who is tied to the club until the end of 2030, has been central to it all.
“We’re really proud of Clayton, and how far he’s come this year, and we’re really looking forward to him having a terrific season next year,” Lamb said.
“I think the work we’ve done with ‘Claz’, and the work that ‘Claz’ has done himself, has been outstanding. He’s obviously had a couple of challenges over the journey [but] he’s got himself into a really good spot, so I wouldn’t agree [that the club mismanaged this situation].”
Clayton Oliver (pictured here with a Melbourne official) attended Friday night’s best-and-fairest function.Credit: Simon Schluter
Asked whether the situation was regrettable, Lamb said: “I’d rather not be answering the question. But I don’t think regrettable. As I said, unfortunately, this time of year there are a lot of things that get spoken about, and unfortunately, sometimes they get out into the public but again, we’re comfortable with where we sit and Clayton knows that he won’t be going anywhere.”
Beyond Oliver, Joel Smith returned a positive test for cocaine last year; Angus Brayshaw retired after his latest concussion; and a disgruntled Christian Petracca aired his grievances about the Demons’ culture after a life-threatening injury.
Petracca, who is contracted for five more years, weighed up whether he wanted to stay at the club.
“Christian obviously went through a pretty horrific experience, which was really traumatic for Christian and his family, particularly him and [his fiancée] Bella,” Lamb said.
“Post-that, we’ve had some really good conversations with ‘Trac’ about the club and how we can get better, [and] how he can get better, as we have with all our leaders. Christian is fully committed and will be playing for us for a long time.”
There was direct fallout from the Petracca situation when Port Adelaide’s back-to-back All-Australian Dan Houston withdrew his interest in joining Melbourne after they were initially favoured to win his commitment.
Petracca, Oliver and Houston are all part of the Connors Sports Management stable.
Tim Lamb faced some difficult questions about Clayton Oliver on Monday.Credit: AFL Photos
Lamb said he was unsure why Houston changed his mind, but conceded it would be difficult to “rekindle” that situation, with one of Carlton, Collingwood and North Melbourne now his likeliest destination.
“We don’t want to be a club that players don’t want to come to. We want to be a really attractive place for players to come to,” he said.
But asked whether the Demons were an attractive proposition for would-be recruits, Lamb paused then said: “It’s hard to answer.”
On the opening day of trade period, Melbourne sent premiership player Alex Neal-Bullen to Adelaide in exchange for a second-round pick, currently No.28, which they sent to the Crows last year for Shane McAdam.
They signed journeyman ruckman Tom Campbell as a delisted free agent on Friday, and are interested in untried Giants key-position swingman Wade Derksen, but GWS plan to hold him to his contract.
Lamb also confirmed contracted forward Kysaiah Pickett would remain at the Demons.
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