AFL round 10: Sunday matches live, will Clayton Oliver tag against Brisbane Lions?

Clayton Oliver’s new role as Melbourne’s tagger could get the ultimate test when the Demons face a star-studded Brisbane midfield on Sunday.

It is the million-dollar question that will fascinate fans right up to the opening bounce of Sunday’s Gabba blockbuster between Brisbane and Melbourne: Who will Clayton Oliver stand next to?

The Demons shocked the football world last week in deploying their triple All-Australian on-baller as a tagger in the absence of Jack Viney, who missed the 35-point loss to Hawthorn due to concussion.

Oliver held Hawks star Jai Newcombe to 19 disposals and drew praise from coach Simon Goodwin, who this week would not rule out reprising the role with Viney not yet ready to return.

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Brisbane midfielders Lachie Neale, Hugh McCluggage and Will Ashcroft have all gotten off the chain this season, giving the Melbourne coaching staff plenty of food for thought in their pre-match preparations.

On any other weekend, Oliver might put in a call to an old friend, with whom he played a handful of VFL games at Richmond in 2015, to ask for advice.

But it just so happens that friend will be wearing a Brisbane jersey on Sunday.

“Clarry and I actually played with each other at Richmond in our draft year,” Lions midfielder Josh Dunkley said.

“To come up against each other is something we love doing. He’s playing roles and I’m playing roles, so we might end up on each other.”

Josh Dunkley — as a Bulldog — gets a tackle on Clayton Oliver. Picture: Michael Klein

Dunkley has made a name for himself as one of the best two-way midfielders in the competition, capable of smothering an opposition player at stoppage while still finding ways to impact in attack.

In last year’s grand final he kept Sydney superstar Isaac Heeney to a paltry 14 disposals, completely blunting one of the Swans’ best weapons on the game’s biggest stage.

And already this year he has some serious scalps, most notably blanketing Gold Coast ball magnet Matt Rowell in the Lions’ round eight QClash win, keeping the Suns’ star to just a single clearance – the worst output of his career.

If the Demons could get a Dunkley-like performance out of Oliver on Sunday, they would be ecstatic.

“Yeah it’s interesting,” Dunkley said of Melbourne’s decision to use Oliver as a tagger.

“He’s been an ultimate player for so long and clearly the role that he’s playing at the moment is a challenge, but I look at that role and I love it. I’m sure he’s loving it too.

“It will be interesting to see who he gets on Sunday (from the Brisbane midfield), if he gets anyone, or he just gets back into playing his game.”

Keidean Coleman returns to the Lions side on Sunday.

The Lions will welcome back rebounding defender Keidean Coleman this weekend for his first AFL game since Opening Round last year, when he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament against Carlton.

After two weeks of solid VFL form the 25-year-old has earned a recall, helped by the absence of winger Jarrod Berry who will miss the match under concussion protocols.

The reigning premiers’ incredible depth means premiership winger Jaspa Fletcher – who this season has been deployed as a defender – can return to his familiar role on the flanks, allowing Coleman to assume his place across halfback.

“He’s been sorely missed, Kiddy,” Dunkley said.

“We’ve missed him a lot over the last 12 months. For him to do the work he has done to get back in the shape he is at the moment is very impressive.

“Coming back from a knee you’re going to have so many setbacks and he has been so good at responding to those setbacks and learning what he has to do along the way.

“I think he’s going to come back a bigger and better player as well.”

Originally published as AFL round 10: Sunday matches live, will Clayton Oliver tag against Brisbane Lions?