Clayton Oliver and the Demons walking a tightrope

Rarely has the destiny of such a brilliant, troubled, often dysfunctional athlete so reflected the fortunes of his football club.

So it is for Clayton Oliver and his winning Demons as he tries to keep to the structured existence that was forced upon him as he seemed to have run out of chances and avoid a potential fall from that good-behaviour wagon.

It has been four months since Oliver left the club’s Lorne pre-season camp after he arrived out of sorts. As the summer progressed, the prospect of the four-time club champion shaping up for his club’s two-game road trip to Adelaide looked unlikely, let alone for the opening-round clash with Sydney.

Melbourne’s centrepiece: Clayton Oliver.Credit: AFL Photos / Getty Images

Had Oliver sat ranked 25th on Melbourne’s list he would most likely no longer be in the AFL system. And even considering his talent, his off-field bosses at Melbourne now concede the intervention to correct Oliver’s demeanour and behaviour around the club could have come much earlier before it was virtually forced upon them.

The club started to ponder a world without Oliver, now 26, and just what a potential trade would look like.

As Melbourne’s disastrous September merged into a hellish off-season, the Oliver trade talk became public, as did his downward trajectory. Oliver was sent to hospital in an ambulance after a seizure late last year and was subsequently charged with driving while his licence was suspended post-seizure. Club officials arriving at Oliver’s house were taken aback by the lack of regular order in his life.

The road back required a whole-of-industry approach. Two people who were at the meeting confirmed that Oliver was confronted by his CEO Gary Pert in a room that included AFL Players Association boss Paul Marsh, manager Paul Connors and senior AFL staffers including the competition’s head of mental health and well-being, Kate Hall. Such tactics not only reflected the depth of Oliver’s problems but also his value to club and competition.

That Oliver wasbrought before such an influential and high-powered group was also a clear indication of the level of concern around where the Demons feared he was headed. And junior and senior staff at the club unwilling to talk publicly about Oliver’s past behaviour, said that he had been a difficult employee around the club for some time. Unpleasant to staff and often unwilling to go the extra yard in a community sense and yet also a fanatical trainer.

Clayton Oliver: This one with emotion.Credit: AFL Photos / Getty Images

So Oliver trained alone through January with the practical daily support of an in-club wingman. His return to the main group at the start of February was met with cynicism from the wider football community. During the off-season Pert and coach Simon Goodwin had defended Melbourne’s culture and yet Oliver was back in the squad and selected to play senior football again come the Demons’ first game.

Both chief executive and coach have remained steadfast regarding Melbourne’s culture. Pert has insisted that holding the Demons’ four-time club champion to account – removing him from the squad during pre-season – was indicative of the tougher line and refusal to compromise. Goodwin has stated that Oliver’s issues, coupled with Joel Smith’s provisional suspension after testing positive to cocaine on match day were isolated incidents.

No one at the club seems prepared to make long-term promises regarding Oliver, but he has more than justified his spot despite the turbulent off-season, not missing a game in the club’s 4-1 start.

Blistering against the Western Bulldogs in round one, he dislocated a finger at training before the trip to Adelaide, but proved crucial in the final term of the Port Adelaide win.

In a telling post-game interview alongside captain Max Gawn after the Bulldogs’ win, Oliver admitted he still had some work to do to win back the trust of his teammates. Melbourne’s off-field bosses insist they are better equipped and more readily prepared to cope with Oliver should he slip in any way from the good behaviour and genuinely friendly and welcoming demeanour that has punctuated his conduct since he was allowed back.

Nor have they ruled out putting him up for trade should those circumstances radically change. The tightrope being walked by Melbourne comes with the realisation that Oliver’s health challenges are long term and that while he has proved a big problem for the club at times, Clayton Oliver remains their problem.

Club champion Christian Petracca – who has shared the club best and fairest exclusively with Oliver over the past five seasons - admitted on AFL 360 that it had taken time to trust his teammate again.

As Oliver continues his cautious behavioural rehabilitation, Melbourne continue to operate against the threat of further allegations or criticism.

Since Smith was accused of trafficking cocaine - not criminal charges, but for trafficking as defined under anti-doping legislation – the club has also existed under threat of text messages he allegedly sent to past or present teammates also exposed.

And Melbourne’s former doctor Zeeshan Arain – who left the club in 2020 – made claims about drug issues at the Demons.

Should Oliver continue to successfully face his challenges within the AFL system, the true test for him could emerge at the end of the season. At which time Melbourne, too, will be judged upon its culture, the strength of its leaders and its ultimate ability to overcome the on- and off-field horrors of the past six months.

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