For the second year in a row, Melbourne have kicked the tyres with other clubs for their interest in a trade for Clayton Oliver.
For the second year in a row, they have quickly tried to walk that talk back. For the second year in a row, it has not gone well.
Clayton Oliver had a disappointing season after a tumultuous off-seasonCredit: Getty Images
The club this week has tried to shut down talk of an Oliver trade. That doesn’t mean the trade is shut down. There are two parties to contracts, and while Melbourne wanted to grab their words back after they slipped from their lips, this masthead has reported Oliver is now poised to meet with senior Geelong officials.
Three other club and industry sources with knowledge of trade discussions said that Gary Pert, the Melbourne CEO who has been running two reviews into the club, recently made contact with a number of teams about whether they had an interest in trading for Oliver.
The premiership midfielder, who had well-known troubles last year, is now in a far better physical and mental place. But eager to get into this year’s draft, the Demons were open to discussing a trade. Besides, the club would be seen to be acting aggressively after years of turmoil.
It didn’t pan out as hoped. When a player is put out there for a second year running, it is hard to argue it’s because things have gone well.
In the lead-up to the grand final, amid myriad official AFL functions, word quickly spread within recruiting circles that Oliver was once more on the market.
Adelaide, St Kilda, and Geelong were among clubs that had all looked closely at Oliver last year and thought he was gettable. After the year Oliver had, seemingly content at Melbourne, clubs didn’t pursue the midfielder, nor consider him a chance to be available. That changed in recent weeks when clubs, and the player, learned of trade discussions.
Geelong were very interested last year at the possibility of landing Oliver, but this year Bailey Smith remains their priority, and this renewed Oliver possibility has arisen late.
Melbourne might have wished to hose down the trade talks, but Oliver is now exercising the same rights as the club – to explore his trade options, notwithstanding his contract. As this masthead has exclusively reported, he is poised to meet with Geelong’s CEO Steve Hocking and football boss Andrew Mackie.
This year is different to last. In 2023, the idea came out of the blue that Melbourne would entertain a trade of one of their best three players and there was an immediate and fierce backlash from fans at the prospect.
Clayton Oliver (left) and Demons coach Simon Goodwin, in Adelaide for round four.Credit: AFL Photos
Melbourne would now argue that part of the rationale for the trade discussion last year was to awaken Oliver and the world to the extent of the problems he was suffering and how difficult things were for him and the club.
Even if Oliver’s football this year – after a terrible, disrupted pre-season – was not at the level of his prime, two weeks ago, he was in a great place. Now he is the subject of renewed trade discussion and wondering if he has to take matters into his own hands and try to move.
This year, the situation is different because the club has not only had the aborted trade discussions of last year with Oliver, they have had the Christian Petracca debacle. Petracca, the 2021 the Norm Smith medallist and four time All-Australian, was so frustrated with the club and the way his serious injury was handled that it was only a long-term contract that kept him from trying to leave.
For a club wishing to redress the image of how they treat their players, tossing one of the best midfielders out there for a second year in a row is an unusual way of doing it.
They have also missed the finals, had their president quit after a radio interview that worsened the problems she was trying to fix, and launched two reviews both conducted by the same person.
If you wanted to paint a picture of a club in disarray, this was as subtle as Ken Done.
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