AFL 2024: Melbourne and Clayton Oliver remain committed to a long relationship, despite the star’s form slump

Clayton Oliver is in a serious form slump on the field and his contract to 2030 has been criticised as one of the worst in football. But will either affect his future at Melbourne? Here’s the latest.

Melbourne and Clayton Oliver remain committed to a long relationship, despite a form slump that is not helped by continued battles with a hand injury.

Oliver was soundly beaten by tagger Will Phillips and gave away six free kicks in an undisciplined display in the Demons’ narrow victory against North Melbourne.

But as he braces for another tag – this time from Brisbane’s Jarrod Berry – Oliver’s on-field struggles are not replicated by the strong ground he has made off the field.

Melbourne is thrilled by his continued development as a person and those close to him report Oliver is as settled and happy as he has been for some time.

Things get heated between Clayton Oliver and George Wardlaw on Saturday night. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

His contract to 2030 has been criticised as one of the worst in football and hits nearly $1.4 million in its final year, given CBA rises are built into a deal brokered when he was in football’s elite.

Any club interested in securing Oliver would want Melbourne to pay some of his salary cap given that financial impost, while the Demons would also need two first-round picks in return.

Not only do the Demons have no interest in a trade, a club that just traded Brodie Grundy would be especially gun-shy about moving on a star of Oliver’s calibre.

Geelong is one of many clubs who continue to assess his progress, given its need to find a big-bodied midfielder who will help ease the eventual transition as Patrick Dangerfield retires.

But the Demons are determined to work with him to get out of the form slump, which hasn’t been helped by his injury issues.

Oliver had surgery in round 6 after battling for a number of weeks with a badly dislocated finger and, in the clash against North Melbourne, again had medicos work on his hand.

Football boss Alan Richardson last month told Fox Footy the club and Oliver had fallen back in love.

“I would be staggered if there is a parting of the waves at the end of the year – staggered. We have fallen back in love with each other,” he said.

The Demons are happy with Oliver’s progress. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos

Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin on Tuesday said the fact Oliver was being tagged by rivals showed he was still a dangerous weapon.

“He certainly wasn’t happy with how he played on the weekend, not only from an impact perspective but obviously giving away so many free kicks,” the coach said.

“There’s been a lot of talk around Clayton and where he’s at … the contract and all sorts of things are things we’re going to have to work with for a long period of time.

“We all know that he’s put a hell of a lot of work into getting himself ready for AFL footy, and to be honest, he’s still having an impact for this team – he must be doing something right if opposition teams are prepared to tag him.”