The multimillion-dollar decision: How Demons missed the boat on Oliver
Clayton Oliver met with Geelong and the Cats' leaders in the post-season of last year, in what shaped as an opportunity that, if it worked out, could benefit all parties.
The Cats would gain a four-time best and fairest, who had been afflicted with health and other issues but who was precisely the kind of midfielder they lacked. Further, a revived Oliver would be a distributor to Max Holmes and the incoming Bailey Smith – their version of Greg 'Diesel' Williams shovelling it out to runners.
Melbourne would gain either draft return for a player who had been high maintenance – and whose form in 2024 had been greatly diminished – or significant salary cap relief on a contract worth close to $1.3 million a year for six years, or nearly $8 million over that term.
Oliver would get a refresh in the relative quiet of Geelong, the Cats having chosen a low-key bucolic setting – Rhys Stanley's farm – to sell their wares to the Mooroopna lad. At 27, Oliver still had years of decent football ahead if he could regain some semblance of his peak.
The devil was in the details, though.
Geelong made clear to this column back then that they would not give up significant draft return and pay the bulk of Oliver's contract. It was an either-or scenario; if they gave up draft pick(s) of value, they would not pay as much of the nearly $8 million.
Oliver, who signed that deal as a top 10 AFL player, was willing to take a pay cut, too, to play with the Cats. Oliver's management saw Geelong as the right fit.
The amount Geelong would pay is a matter of some dispute. From conversations at the time – which hold more weight than those six months later – it appeared that the Demons could have had the bulk of the contract picked up or taken off their books.
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