A New Chapter for Clayton Oliver
Clayton Oliver, a key player for the GWS Giants, is not looking back on his past as he prepares to face Melbourne in Alice Springs. He described the upcoming match as just another game, emphasizing that any “reunion” with the Demons would be no different from other fixtures.
Oliver has been in career-best form and is enjoying his football once again. The 2021 premiership-winning Demon left Melbourne after being told he didn’t fit into the club’s midfield plans. His move to the Giants was influenced by former teammates Toby Bedford and Jesse Hogan, both of whom have also found success at the club.
Now 29 years old, Oliver has rediscovered the form that earned him recognition as a three-time All-Australian midfielder and four-time club best-and-fairest. In his first 11 games for the Giants, and with injured midfielder Tom Green out of action, Oliver has averaged an elite 31.7 disposals and 8.5 clearances per game.
His performance was pivotal in the Giants’ 78-point victory over the reigning premiers, Brisbane, where the team executed an extraordinary 14-goal third-quarter blitz. Despite this, Oliver hasn’t given much thought to the upcoming game at Traeger Park, apart from a coffee catch-up with Demons skipper Max Gawn on Saturday.
The 12th-placed Giants (5-6) are aiming for their first back-to-back wins of the season ahead of their round-13 bye. Oliver remains focused on treating the game like any other.
“I’m just going to treat it like another game, to be honest,” Oliver said.
He is currently in a new chapter of his career and loves playing for the Giants. “Toby Bedford’s also been amazing for me. He’s my housemate and best mate and probably the only reason I came up here. I wasn’t too sure about it, and even when I’d signed I was a little bit unsure, but it was really reassuring to have him there.”
Being in Sydney, away from Melbourne, has been a refreshing change for Oliver. “I love every bit of it. It’s the ‘Bedford, Hogan and Oliver Cup’, there are three of us here. It’ll be a great game, and I’m just looking forward to it.”
Despite his positive outlook, Oliver’s decade-long stint at the Demons still lingers in his mind, as evidenced by a few Freudian slips. When asked about returning to Alice Springs for the game, he mentioned: “I actually like Alice. The Dees, we go out there once a year. We used to play right up there – sorry, the Dees used to play right up there. I think we lost the last two out there. It’ll be good to get back up there.”
Oliver wasn’t the only club champion to leave the Demons last year. Christian Petracca, the Norm Smith Medal winner, moved to Gold Coast.
Melbourne coach Steven King expressed that he wasn’t surprised by the pair’s return to top form at their new clubs. Sitting sixth (7-4) after a three-point loss to the Western Bulldogs, Melbourne will also pay tribute to club legend Neale Daniher, who passed away on Monday.
“I wish nothing more than for ‘Clarry’ (Oliver), for Christian to go really well,” King said. “It was quite obvious internally here we needed change as well, so you need to just not worry about the consequences of how other people go. They’re both great players and greats of our footy club, so there’s no surprise they’re playing a really high level of footy.”
Melbourne is expected to regain forward Brody Mihocek (hamstring) and Latrelle Pickett (managed), while veteran Tom McDonald is a potential replacement for Jake Lever (concussion).
GWS are hoping to recall All-Australian defender Sam Taylor (hamstring) for the first time this year, while fellow backmen Lachie Whitfield (hamstring) and Leek Aleer (ankle) are tests.
