AFL 2023: Top doc’s warning for Clayton Oliver after star Dee was ruled out for another 3-4 weeks

On Thursday, the Demons confirmed Clayton Oliver will miss another three or four weeks. But leading sports medicine expert says it could get much worse.

Melbourne midfielder Clayton Oliver in a heated discussion with a Dees trainer on Wednesday

One of football’s foremost medical experts has warned Clayton Oliver has only one more chance to fix his hamstring this season after a “disastrous” recovery that includes three separate injuries.

The Demons on Thursday said Oliver would miss another three or four weeks, but that could be an optimistic diagnosis after his past six weeks of rehab.

Leading sports medicine expert Peter Brukner said it was his understanding Oliver had endured three separate injuries to his hamstring since round 10 as well as his hospital stay for an infected blister.

He said if Oliver suffered another hamstring setback his season might be over, given the delicate nature of the hamstring muscle.

Oliver suffered the initial injury to where the muscle meets the tendon in round 10 and has had two recurrences since.

Clayton Oliver can’t afford another hamstring setback. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

“It’s been quite a saga. It’s the third time he has injured his hamstring. The initial injury, a re-injury when he tried to play three or four weeks later. In the middle we had that blister which saw him in hospital and now he’s had another slight setback. It’s been a pretty disastrous few weeks for Clayton Oliver,” he said.

“The hamstring is three muscles in one. He initially injured one and the second time he injured one of the other ones.

“If it was one of the ones where the muscle meets the tendon, it was a more severe hamstring injury and then had another one on top of that in one of the muscles. He is pushing it and the club is pushing it because you are desperate to get back.

“It sounds like it was a significant setback. Judging by the fact they are saying it’s three or four weeks the scan has probably not looked that great. They will be pretty conservative this time.

“It can’t happen again or he is out for the rest of the season, so they have got to get on top of this one and take it more slowly and get it right for the finals.”

Brukner told 3AW he believed the Melbourne fitness and medical team was elite but the complicated nature of hamstring issues meant sports science had still not found a perfect way to manage them, despite decades of research.

The Demons take on St Kilda this weekend, desperate to cling to their spot in the top four and with star forward Bailey Fritsch likely to miss the entire home-and-away season with a broken foot.

Fresh twist emerges in Oliver’s ‘complicated’ hamstring drama

Clayton Oliver is expected to spend the next month on the sidelines as Melbourne assesses solutions for his “complicated” hamstring injury which does not allow him to run at full pace.

The Melbourne superstar will miss key games against top eight sides St Kilda, Brisbane and Adelaide with an injury that saw Oliver in heated conversation with its fitness boss at training this week.

Melbourne said on Thursday Oliver would miss at least three to four weeks but made clear it would not take any risk with his return timetable.

The Herald Sun revealed after round 10 Oliver was likely to miss up to a month for an injury that the Demons had initially feared might sideline him for even longer.

The reason for that became clear on Thursday when Demons football boss Alan Richardson revealed his injury was “located where the muscle attaches to the tendon”.

As Richardson said, the injury involves two separate hamstring muscles, and while scans cleared Oliver of the need for surgery he clearly needs more time to recover.

Melbourne midfielder Clayton Oliver in a heated discussion with a Dees trainer on Wednesday.

The brilliant best-and-fairest winner and All Australian is the heartbeat of the Demons midfield and with the club’s forward line also ailing he is not there to release Christian Petracca to play as an exclusive forward.

The club’s leading goalkicker Bayley Fritsch will also miss the rest of the home-and-away season with a broken foot, so the challenge is there for Melbourne not to allow their season to implode with key injuries.

Oliver had further scans this week after he was not able to hit full pace at training and Richardson said the club needed to give him another three or four weeks of rehab.

The Demons did not clarify whether Oliver had suffered fresh hamstring damage or was simply battling with his pre-existing injury.

“Clayton has a complex hamstring injury, due to the fact that the injury is located where the muscle attaches to the tendon, and to further complicate that, there is injury to two separate hamstring muscles,” Richardson said.

“There is no doubt that Clayton’s recovery has been complicated by the week he was required to spend immobile in hospital.

“What we have experienced so far is that Clayton can comfortably achieve 90 per cent of his running capacity, but as we saw yesterday, he is unable to get to full speed to pass his minimum training markers.

“This suggests that, due to the discomfort Clayton felt during his run-throughs, further recovery time is required. At this stage, we expect this will be three to four weeks.

“The club will continue to explore all treatment options for Clayton, but as with all players, we won’t be taking any risks with his return to play timelines.”

Oliver has not played since the Dees’ loss to Port in round 10. (Photo by Mark Brake/Getty Images)

Melbourne has only four first-choice players on its injury list – Tom McDonald (foot), Michael Hibberd (kidney), Fritsch and Oliver.

But after four losses in the past six weeks – many plagued by inaccuracy – the challenge is for coach Simon Goodwin to find the club’s mojo.

If fifth-placed St Kilda upsets the fourth-placed Melbourne this week they would take that top four spot and allow third-placed Brisbane to surge further ahead with Collingwood and Port Adelaide seemingly untouchable.