Mark Robinson on Clayton Oliver’s AFL future after returning to Melbourne pre-season training

There are few people who understand the true extent of Clayton Oliver’s mental health issues. As MARK ROBINSON writes, Oliver’s world is a complex one which has left his AFL career in jeopardy.

Clayton Oliver.

There were no balloons and streamers – and no media – when Clayton Oliver was reintroduced to the main training group at Casey Fields on Tuesday.

There was a decent level of hope, however.

The media were there at Gosch’s paddock on Wednesday, but still no balloons and streamers for the return of the prodigal son.

It is baby steps for Oliver on his journey back from who knows where – we’ll call it Clayton’s’ World – and while it was only in the rehab group after a recent knee injury, they were the most significant steps Oliver has taken in a football sense for some time.

When you have a deep and complex mental health condition — which dictates good, bad and very bad behaviour, and which has been attempted to be understood by psychologists, specialists, medical experts, his manager Paul Connors, Demons staff and teammates – Clayton’s World is as clear as the Yarra River mud.

Oliver has taken time away from the Demons to deal with a mental health issue. Picture: Michael Klein

It’s why he has been absent from the training group all these weeks. Mainly to get himself right — he has a comprehensive group of medical specialists at his own expense – but also because, while the club has profound care for their midfield battering ram, it also has profound care for the rest of the playing group and the program.

How can standards be set in an elite sporting team, which went bang bang by the small margins in the finals last year, when one of the star players is pissing those standards up against the wall?

This is not a bash Clayton Oliver exercise because to do so without facts and an understanding of the complexities of Oliver’s wellbeing, would be plainly wrong.

People close to him say Oliver’s situation is the most complex they’ve seen in football for 20 or 30 years.

For that, he has enormous sympathy.

And while some people use mental health as an excuse for their poor behaviour, that is not Oliver. His demons are because of his mental health.

His erratic behaviour is further challenging because it is said Oliver is extremely remorseful and thankful to those who are helping him, but then he finds himself in situations which is why he’s getting help in the first place.

People close to Oliver say he is dealing with some of the most complex issues seen in footy in decades. Picture: Michael Klein

Too many times, he’s made horrible decisions or benders without having the awareness of the torment he’s creating for those in his corner.

Make no mistake, in Clayton’s World he has let down a lot of people who have devoted a staggering amount of their personal time to help him. Not just these past few tumultuous months, but for several years.

Clearly, he needs help and he’s trying to get help. But it’s not always an easy highway to ride.

Ben Cousins was on his own different and destructive highway for a decade, and now he reads the news on Channel 7 in Perth.

You wonder if Cousins could be an inspiration for Oliver, who is only 26, and at the same time, you wonder what Cousins is thinking when he reads reports about Oliver’s situation.

Ben the newsreader could easily moonlight as Ben the psychologist. It couldn’t hurt.

All is not lost for Oliver. But even in Clayton’s World, he would realise that with all the patience and tolerance and understanding from everyone at Melbourne, and mainly from his teammates, it’s not a $1million-a-year ticket forever.

His career is standing on a cliff face. And it won’t take much more before the tolerance and understanding, and the money, disappear.

Clayton Oliver returned to pre-season training on Wednesday. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Clayton Oliver is embraced after returning to Demons training. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Clubs have set adrift many problem players before.

One of the game’s premier midfielders, the Demons at this stage are standing by their player and even though he probably won’t be seen until the halfway mark of the season, the absolute hope is the fanatical trainer readies himself to be a strong contributor going into September.

That he’s back at training this week doesn’t complete his mission, however. There’s every chance he might need another stint away from the club to work on himself. That will be good management and not punishment.

All the while, rumours abound about Oliver. If they’re all true, he’s been off his head in every second deadbeat bar and nightclub in Melbourne and owes money to the bikies and to the local BMX club.

Don’t believe everything, although he’s not exactly Saint Christopher either.

It’s why people in the football industry hold fears for him.

His problems are made worse because he’s in the microscopic world of football. Yet, if there’s some solace for him it’s the fact that practically every family in Australia is confronted with issues and behaviours which aren’t always easy for others to understand.

It doesn’t make them bad people. It’s why Oliver is not a bad person.

If he was able to do an interview and talk about his issues and his pathway forward, there’s no question the public would have far greater understanding and far less condemnation of him.

In Clayton’s World, it might help him more than he could imagine.