Clayton Oliver's home broken into by thieves ahead of AFL milestone
Late on Friday, the Demons confirmed exclusively to 7NEWS that the home invasion happened earlier this week.
The club says the 27-year-old is OK and and will take the field for his milestone game against Carlton tomorrow night.
Oliver trained freely today, showing no signs of any stress from the incident.
Melbourne could not say if anything was stolen or if Oliver was home at the time.
It's the latest chapter — albeit not one that was his fault — in what has been a turbulent couple of years for the three-time All-Australian.
Oliver had a desire to be traded to Geelong at the end of last year, but Melbourne held firm, holding him to his lucrative and long-term contract.
The denied attempt at a move came after a string of off-field and personal issues which saw him take time away from the club.
Since fighting back from those challenges, Oliver has returned to the fold but is still working to rediscover his best form.
Trade speculation is expected to resurface at the end of this season, when it now appears Oliver's premiership teammate Bailey Fritsch could also be on the move, despite coach Simon Goodwin's dismissal of the suggestion.
Out of finals contention, the Demons (6-11) insist there is plenty left to play for over the last six rounds of a disappointing campaign.
Fritsch's name has been floated this week as a possible trade candidate, the 2021 grand-final hero having had an inconsistent season up forward.
But Goodwin declared Melbourne's focus is firmly on adding to their list in pursuit of success, rather than paring it back for a full-scale rebuild.
It comes after the club held onto Christian Petracca and Oliver last year during a rocky trade period, when the contracted midfield stars both explored their options.
'We're in a mindset of getting better and at the end of the year we'll sit down and work through what all that looks like,' Goodwin told reporters on Thursday.
'We feel as a footy club we're very stable, both off the field and now on the field, from 12 months ago.
'So we feel like we're in a really, really strong position to make some really strong and good decisions moving forward about how we get to where we want to as quick as we can.'
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