Latest news with #ClaytonOliver
The Australian
25-05-2025
- Sport
- The Australian
AFL Round 11 SuperCoach scores, trade advice: Melbourne v Sydney, St Kilda v Gold Coast, Adelaide v West Coast
All aboard the Demons train? Melbourne's big SuperCoach names all put up huge numbers as the Dees registered one of their best wins since their 2021 flag against Sydney. But we can't say the same for the top picks at the Eagles. Here are the seven key takeaways from a big Sunday of round 11 action. RECAP ALL TODAY'S ACTION IN THE BLOG BELOW 1. DEES TURN BACK CLOCK Melbourne piled on 36 scoring shots against Sydney at the MCG, and all the Demons' big names racked up the SuperCoach points, led by another huge Max Gawn performance – 21 disposals, nine tackles, 35 hitouts, 17 contested possessions, 153 SuperCoach points – opposed to old teammate Brodie Grundy. Clayton Oliver bagged an equal season-high 130, Christian Petracca scored 125 in game 200, and they were just three of six Demons to crack the SuperCoach ton. Are they a SuperCoach-friendly side again? 2. LINE UP FOR THE KOZZIE PICKETT SHOW This guy could be the pick of the bunch – at least in terms of value. Starting the round valued at $458,400, Kysaiah Pickett lit up the MCG with five goals and 148 SuperCoach points, and it wasn't a one-off performance. That's three 100-plus scores in a row as he transitions to a genuine midfielder-forward in 2025 – so much so he's set to receive dual-position status in SuperCoach at the close of the round. If you like a POD, he's in 1 per cent of teams. Kysaiah Pickett kicked five goals against Sydney playing a mix of midfield and forward. Picture:3. EEK, EAGLES! SuperCoaches across the country are up in arms over the performances of three West Coast Eagles. Tom Gross, Matt Flynn and Ryan Maric harmed a lot of sides with showings well below their best against Adelaide. Gross avoided the starting sub role but it didn't help him much – he was subbed out of the match during the third quarter with only seven points – six below his break even – while Flynn and Maric had little impact. Flynn finished the game 46 and Maric 48. Yuck. 4. MILLS MRO WATCH Callum Mills is a bargain in the backline at just $357,200. Playing his first game since suffering a foot injury in February, Mills started strongly with seven touches in the first term before finishing with 17, a goal and 69 SuperCoach points playing mainly at half-back. He's an option for coaches looking for a cheap injury replacement heading into the mid-season byes, but we'll have to wait for the MRO verdict on a high bump that flattened Charlie Spargo. 5. SUPER SUB PUSHES HIS CASE It's best 18 scoring for the next five rounds, and with a host of premiums missing next week we'll need every bench player to stand up and be counted. Bubble boy Hugh Boxshall did his best to stake his claim after starting as the sub for St Kilda. He was activated just before three-quarter time but showed plenty when given a chance, racking up eight disposals, three tackles and one brilliant contested knock-on that set up a goal to Cooper Sharman. Give him a start next week, please Ross. Hugh Boxshall (right) flies for the ball with Matt Rowell. Picture:6. SINCLAIR MOVE WAS SUPERCOACH 101 Every year we see it – a reliable A-grader who drops in price before turning his form around and becoming one of the buys of the season. In 2025 Jack Sinclair is exhibit A. After hitting $642k in round 5 following a blistering start to the year, his price fell all the way to $529,300 in round 9. Savvy coaches jumped on and he has since reeled off scores of 124, 131 and 143 in successive weeks. On Sunday he had 29 disposals (24 effective), eight intercepts and nine score involvements, including a late goal. After entering the round with a Break Even of 66, he's heading back to $600k with a bullet. 7. ROB GOES BIG It's never too late to challenge your career best. Adelaide big man Reilly O'Brien gave his PB SuperCoach score a real shake with an impressive 161 against West Coast. O'Brien got his hands to 45 hitouts and had 18 disposals in the Crows' 66-point win. What he did offensively was matched with what he did defensively, as he reduced Eagles' duo Bailey Williams and Matt Flynn to little impact. O'Brien had been averaging over 100 in his past three weeks and poured fuel on that figure against the Eagles. He's one of the more expensive ruck options but has been delivering strongly.
News.com.au
23-05-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
AFL 2025: Melbourne ‘clearly' need plans to limit Isaac Heeney and Chad Warner
The challenger is undetermined but the challenge is as clear as day. Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin says the Demons must 'clearly' invest significant time into Sydney stars Chad Warner and Isaac Heeney this Sunday. The dynamic and destructive duo ran amok last week, pulling the Swans over a fast-starting Carlton at the SCG. While Goodwin remains unsure whether he will turn to a rejuvenated Clayton Oliver for the task at hand, he knows the Demons must nullify the skilful pair of Swans. 'We're going to work that out later today, but clearly they're got some guys who are having a huge impact on the game,' he said. 'They've also got some other damaging players in different positions, so we need to be really clear on our strategy. 'Clearly, we're going to have to have plans for (Isaac) Heeney and (Chad) Warner, they're two guys who are having a significant impact on the game. 'We've loved what (Oliver) has been able to do, he's invested in what the team is about, that's first and foremost, and he's growing his game off the back of that. 'We're going to sit down and work what's best in that space, but we're loving what Clayton is doing.' Fresh off a strong win over Brisbane, the Demons haven't rushed to re-employ spearhead Jacob van Rooyen. Van Rooyen had a shaky start to his third season and has struggled to work his way back into the senior side. Goodwin says van Rooyen remains in Melbourne's long-term vision and is urging a sense of patience towards his progression. 'He's a key forward that's developing his game,' he said. 'There's not too many dominant key forwards his age that are having as much impact as he's been able to have in his first 45 games of footy. 'He's going through a little patch at the moment where he's growing his game to a different level. 'We've got really huge belief he's going to be able to do that and take our footy club forward – he's going to be a Melbourne player for a long, long time. 'Everyone will look at the short term and where it is right now. He's a part of our long-term future and he's going to be a big part of it moving forward.'
7NEWS
20-05-2025
- Sport
- 7NEWS
AFL great Kane Cornes exposes Clayton Oliver myth: ‘He wasn't tagging'
The notion that out-of-sorts Melbourne midfielder Clayton Oliver has been reinvented as a tagger or run-with player is a complete 'myth', says Kane Cornes. After missing a game for wellbeing reasons, Oliver has returned to the team in the past fortnight and had roles on Hawthorn's Jai Newcombe and Brisbane's Lachie Neale in the past fortnight. (down on his season average of 24.9), while Neale touched it 30 times as the Demons pulled off one of the upsets of the season. Oliver was also solid in the Gabba boilover, helping himself to 23 possessions and a goal. The Agenda Setters host Craig Hutchison said on Monday there was a long way to go as the club reprogrammed the four time best-and-fairest winner, but it appeared to be working. 'Sometimes in life you have go backwards to go forwards,' Hutchison said. 'The reprogramming of him is on. I know he wasn't the best player on the ground on the weekend, and it was a good contest, but it has improved him.' Hutchison then turned to Cornes who, along with many others, has been a little critical of the move. 'I think you've gone too hard too early on this. This might be the thing that gets him back to where (he used to be),' Hutchison said to the Port Adelaide great. But Cornes was having none of it. 'There used to be a show called Myth Busters. It might still be a thing. There might be some reruns on this week,' Cornes said. 'But it is a myth that Clayton Oliver is tagging. It is merely a reference point.' Cornes then ran some vision of Oliver and Neale. 'So look at the room that Clayton Oliver gave Lachie Neale New York. So anyone who says that Clayton Oliver was tagging ... don't listen to them.' As AFL great Nick Riewoldt was about to join the conversation, a fired up Cornes quickly stopped him. 'Nick, don't challenge me on this,' Cornes said. Riewoldt responded: 'I'm not ... I was about to agree with you, Kane, if you took a breath.' Cornes continued: 'Let me describe what is going on. Do not let anyone tell you that Clayton Oliver is tagging Lachie Neale.' Riewoldt did say, however, he had spoken to coach Simon Goodwin ahead of the game and Goodwin said the Neale positioning was 'a starting point' for Oliver or a 'reference point'. 'I heard it,' said Cornes. 'But then I get after the game (from some people), 'Oh gee, (how good was Clayton Oliver)' .... and I read in the Herald Sun ... 'How good was Clayton Oliver tagging Lachie Neale'. 'He wasn't tagging and equally Lachie Neale showed him zero respect the other way, so it worked both ways.' Riewoldt said: 'It was a starting point and then a shootout.' Cornes: 'Maybe it was a strategy to allow Clayton Oliver some leg rope. But there was no tag. I had to mythbust that.' After the Cornes outburst, The Agenda Setters panel was in stitches. Veteran AFL journalist said to Cornes, 'You are exhausting.' And Hutchison said, Cornes was arguing with himself. 'Just when I thought there was no one left in football for you to argue with, you're now arguing with yourself,' Hutchison said. 'It's official, you've found you're last target ... yourself ... it's incredible .... it's Kane versus Kane.'
The Age
19-05-2025
- Sport
- The Age
‘He's an animal in there': Inside Clayton Oliver's reinvention as a tagger
Clayton Oliver is a four-time best and fairest winner, a three-time All Australian and a premiership player at Melbourne. At his best, there are few, if any, better inside-midfielders in the AFL. In a season when he was largely searching for form after the off-field tumult of the past 18 months, including his wish to be traded to Geelong, Oliver could easily have grumbled at the suggestion he be shifted from a role he had owned, particularly as he was still averaging more than 27 disposals and seven clearances a game. Instead, the Demons say Oliver has embraced a new role as a run-with player – although not quite in the mould of a true defensive tagger – over the past fortnight. After sitting out the game against West Coast, he held star Hawk Jai Newcombe in check in round nine in the absence of Jack Viney (concussion), although he had only 14 touches of his own as the Demons' three-game winning streak was snapped. Regardless, coach Simon Goodwin praised Oliver's work in the tagging role, declaring, perhaps pointedly, he had brought 'a real focus on what he could do for the team, and it is ultimately about what you can do for the team'. Oliver on Sunday won further plaudits for ensuring dual Brownlow medallist Lachie Neale was heldt accountable and forced to work hard in a stunning 11-point win over Brisbane at the Gabba. 'What I see with Clayton is a great teammate who is willing to do what it takes for the team,' Demons forward Jake Melksham said on Monday. 'You could definitely say the first eight or nine years of his career, he was the man, and other sides were going after him. He has had a lighter year in terms of his lofty standards, but now what he is doing is evolving and adding another string to his bow.' Goodwin's move has ensured Oliver is at contest, where he thrives. It's not that he had forgotten how to get the hard ball. Rather, lining up on Neale ensured Oliver was regularly in the heat of the battle, where the Demons always back the big-bodied mid to thrive.
Sydney Morning Herald
19-05-2025
- Sport
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘He's an animal in there': Inside Clayton Oliver's reinvention as a tagger
Clayton Oliver is a four-time best and fairest winner, a three-time All Australian and a premiership player at Melbourne. At his best, there are few, if any, better inside-midfielders in the AFL. In a season when he was largely searching for form after the off-field tumult of the past 18 months, including his wish to be traded to Geelong, Oliver could easily have grumbled at the suggestion he be shifted from a role he had owned, particularly as he was still averaging more than 27 disposals and seven clearances a game. Instead, the Demons say Oliver has embraced a new role as a run-with player – although not quite in the mould of a true defensive tagger – over the past fortnight. After sitting out the game against West Coast, he held star Hawk Jai Newcombe in check in round nine in the absence of Jack Viney (concussion), although he had only 14 touches of his own as the Demons' three-game winning streak was snapped. Regardless, coach Simon Goodwin praised Oliver's work in the tagging role, declaring, perhaps pointedly, he had brought 'a real focus on what he could do for the team, and it is ultimately about what you can do for the team'. Oliver on Sunday won further plaudits for ensuring dual Brownlow medallist Lachie Neale was heldt accountable and forced to work hard in a stunning 11-point win over Brisbane at the Gabba. 'What I see with Clayton is a great teammate who is willing to do what it takes for the team,' Demons forward Jake Melksham said on Monday. 'You could definitely say the first eight or nine years of his career, he was the man, and other sides were going after him. He has had a lighter year in terms of his lofty standards, but now what he is doing is evolving and adding another string to his bow.' Goodwin's move has ensured Oliver is at contest, where he thrives. It's not that he had forgotten how to get the hard ball. Rather, lining up on Neale ensured Oliver was regularly in the heat of the battle, where the Demons always back the big-bodied mid to thrive.
