Player Watch #13 Clayton Oliver – UNPRECEDENTED 4 x B&F, 3 x AA, 2 x AFLCA Winner and Premiership Player

[Topkent]

Good on him, everything I said about him is wrong if he starts carrying the ball like the last 2 weeks. The damage of his disposals goes up 10 fold. He looked ridiculously quick in this game, whatever the key is to him playing like this more needs to be drummed into him because when he goes back to handball Harry he's a dime a dozen mid.

The last 2 weeks he's had 17 kicks, that's the equal most of his entire career, only ever done that once before in his career. There's been a monumental shift in his game. I really hope for our sake he can keep it up.

 

[saj_21]

Goodwin has been working with him on driving out of stoppages

 

[A11dAtP0w3R]

Really good

 

[Robos]

Gun

 

[ThePuppetMaster]

Good on him, everything I said about him is wrong if he starts carrying the ball like the last 2 weeks. The damage of his disposals goes up 10 fold. He looked ridiculously quick in this game, whatever the key is to him playing like this more needs to be drummed into him because when he goes back to handball Harry he's a dime a dozen mid.

The last 2 weeks he's had 17 kicks, that's the equal most of his entire career, only ever done that once before in his career. There's been a monumental shift in his game. I really hope for our sake he can keep it up.

Agree mate, although I think you're a bit harsh on his previous form.

He was still a very good midfielder - playing like he is now could make him absolutely elite.

 

[Topkent]

Agree mate, although I think you're a bit harsh on his previous form.

He was still a very good midfielder - playing like he is now could make him absolutely elite.

I agree, if he runs and kicks the ball as often as he has the last 2 weeks then we will have the best 1-2 midfield combo in the league. Hopefully Tracs progression makes him jealous.

 

[Gysberts2Bate]

I agree, if he runs and kicks the ball as often as he has the last 2 weeks then we will have the best 1-2 midfield combo in the league. Hopefully Tracs progression makes him jealous.

That Petracca burst goal was insane because objectively Petracca ****ed up the handball. It was an awful decision to handball, and there aren’t many players with hands quick enough to make it work.

 

[00Stinger]

23 years old and 5 seasons into his career

2 x b&f winner
1 x b&f runner up
(will have another top 3-5 b&f finish this year)
1 x AA
1 x AA Squad (maybe another team)
1 x AFLCA Young Player winner
3 x Under 22 team
1 x AFLCA award top 5 finish
1 x AFLCA award top 10 finish

Also for a guy who has been a bit of a whipping boy at times this year he finished up ranked number 1 in the league for Contested possessions and clearances

 

[Topkent]

23 years old and 5 seasons into his career

2 x b&f winner
1 x b&f runner up
(will have another top 3-5 b&f finish this year)
1 x AA
1 x AA Squad (maybe another team)
1 x AFLCA Young Player winner
3 x Under 22 team
1 x AFLCA award top 5 finish
1 x AFLCA award top 10 finish

Also for a guy who has been a bit of a whipping boy at times this year he finished up ranked number 1 in the league for Contested possessions and clearances

He's a whipping boy because he should be one of our all time greats but he plays like a stock standard mid. He has more talent than the level he's played at.

 

[00Stinger]

He's a whipping boy because he should be one of our all time greats but he plays like a stock standard mid. He has more talent than the level he's played at.

Even when he is down he is still so much better than a stock standard midfielder

He is still a long way off his peak too

Compare him to any midfielder from the 2014 - 2019 drafts and his output is that far ahead of anyone else it isn't even funny.

 

[Topkent]

Even when he is down he is still so much better than a stock standard midfielder

He is still a long way off his peak too

Compare him to any midfielder from the 2014 - 2019 drafts and his output is that far ahead of anyone else it isn't even funny.

Not arguing but that doesn't mean criticism isn't justified. Trac copped heaps on this board aswell because we knew his ceiling. Oliver isn't guaranteed to reach his ceiling, critisicm is more than justified

 

[00Stinger]

Not arguing but that doesn't mean criticism isn't justified. Trac copped heaps on this board aswell because we knew his ceiling. Oliver isn't guaranteed to reach his ceiling, critisicm is more than justified

No one is guaranteed to reach their ceiling.

But the fact is he is already an elite midfielder, his first 99 games have been ******* phenomenal and all he has to do is just slightly tinker a few things to become an absolute top 5-10 player

 

[Demon bhoy]

Even when he is down he is still so much better than a stock standard midfielder

He is still a long way off his peak too

Compare him to any midfielder from the 2014 - 2019 drafts and his output is that far ahead of anyone else it isn't even funny.

Hes a victim of his early success, excuses get made for other blokes on the list that don’t always seem to apply to Oliver.

 

[00Stinger]

Hes a victim of his early success, excuses get made for other blokes on the list that don’t always seem to apply to Oliver.

100%

 

[Topkent]

Hes a victim of his early success, excuses get made for other blokes on the list that don’t always seem to apply to Oliver.

It's give an take, those guys get excuses because shitting on the 22nd player in the team for not being perfect is boring and pointless, Oliver could be the best player in the game if he improves. I'll happily say I'm harsh as * on him but I've also seen alot of Melbourne players start well and never hit their top ceiling.

 

[00Stinger]

It's give an take, those guys get excuses because shitting on the 22nd player in the team for not being perfect is boring and pointless, Oliver could be the best player in the game if he improves. I'll happily say I'm harsh as fu** on him but I've also seen alot of Melbourne players start well and never hit their top ceiling.

to be fair none of them even got close to what he has produced the last 3 years

 

[schmuttt]

His biggest issue is he is too scared to take the gme on sometimes. Loves to handball to someone else to give them the responsibility.

 

[Topkent]

to be fair none of them even got close to what he has produced the last 3 years

Nah and I'm not arguing that mate, can't speak for other campaigners by alot of my critisicm is about what he does because I know he can do it better.

He should study Tom Liberatores video from this year, his ability to be in congestion and handball to someone 15m away is ******* unreal but people dont deserve think of him as a top mid because he doesn't kick well, mark or kick goals. But he might be the most elite handballer in the league.

Oliver has that vision but the amount of times he handballs to a stationary target or to Gawn is infuriating.

 

[schmuttt]

Nah and I'm not arguing that mate, can't speak for other campaigners by alot of my critisicm is about what he does because I know he can do it better.

He should study Tom Liberatores video from this year, his ability to be in congestion and handball to someone 15m away is ******* unreal but people dont deserve think of him as a top mid because he doesn't kick well, mark or kick goals. But he might be the most elite handballer in the league.

Oliver has that vision but the amount of times he handballs to a stationary target or to Gawn is infuriating.

I forget which game it was but he had ball under no pressure 50m out and turned around and handballed to Gawn instead of having a shot. Nearly smashed my tv. So frustrating when you watch him run and kick and he looks a top 5 player in the afl then he does that s**t

 

[stEdy]

He was doing those handballs out wide to runners in 2017-2018. We just don't have a consistent, coherent ball movement system at the moment + he went into his shell and started to take the easy option.

*en train Salem to play in the centre square, get Oliver to practice scooping up ground balls and releasing Salem onto his left with his hands all summer long and our "connection" from stoppage will be 5x better.

Keep it simple fellas.

 

[Grimesy87]

His biggest issue is he is too scared to take the gme on sometimes. Loves to handball to someone else to give them the responsibility.

When/if he starts doing this...

Randymarshcreme.gif

 

[ThePuppetMaster]

He took some great steps this year IMO.

Great ball winner and contested player, but really started to get out of contests and use his feet more.

He copped a lot for his ball use early this year, but you can see he's a bloody great kick - that left foot pass vs GWS or ESS into the 50 was a beauty.

He'll continue to be very good, but will he be great is the real question - I reckon he will, he's shown the ability to improve parts of his game year on year from a young kid.

 

[djpaulydemon]

Cleanest pick up of the ball I have ever seen play. He is actually not a bad kick either and has shown that in some games.

But as others have said his quick handballs can be detrimental when they are to the wrong player or he needs to kick himself. He also has a really bad habit of throwing it on his boot so fast that it comes off the side of his boot and can go anywhere, he is probably the worst player in the league at this. It's like his muscles are too fast twitch sometimes for his own good when he slams it or handballs to quickly.

Also seems to have less power in his shoulders from surgery so has backed out of some overhead contests and slipped a lot of tackles, compared to when he was chunkier and younger pre surgery he made them stick. He'll get that power back and ultimately its better if he can run defensively and hit the number of contests he does at the moment.

He can get better. But the consistency at which he is involved in the game earns him another AA squad spot. He sorts his issues out (better gameplan/ coaching helps) and he should win a Brownlow.

 

[Proper Gander]

He was doing those handballs out wide to runners in 2017-2018. We just don't have a consistent, coherent ball movement system at the moment + he went into his shell and started to take the easy option.

fu**en train Salem to play in the centre square, get Oliver to practice scooping up ground balls and releasing Salem onto his left with his hands all summer long and our "connection" from stoppage will be 5x better.

Keep it simple fellas.

This.

His job is to scoop it out, which he does better than just about anyone, and flick it, which he does better than anyone, to a moving teammate. When our midfield movement and spread works (a quarter to quarter proposition these days) he is unbelievable. He is left looking a goose too often when surrounded by three entirely stationary blokes less than 2 metres from the ball. And the fact that half the time he’s negotiating a pointless collision with Viney or similar to get the ball in the first place.

A half decent coach would build our midfield structure and ball movement around this guys skills because he is a magician at what he does.

 

[The Dr]

Fifth in the BnF is lower than most expected. Hopefully gives him some extra motivation to improve this summer.


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