Sounds odd, but I've noticed how well he keeps his eye on the ball in the scrimmages. Like a Kelpie when you play 'fake' fetch.

2 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Maybe stick to suburban footy and leave the good stuff to Clayton..

Hah, burn!

It wouldn't surprise me if Clarry had a brother who was a plonker.  That's a bit what Clarry looked like too, even to some professional scouts, before everyone realised what a gift he had.  It's the speed in which his brain operates and can deliver signals to his hands that sets him apart.  It's a one in a million trait, and without it he's just another player.

Being built like a brick outhouse also helps, though that trait is a lot more common.

4 minutes ago, Nasher said:

It's the speed in which his brain operates and can deliver signals to his hands that sets him apart.  It's a one in a million trait, and without it he's just another player.

And he spends it before he has it but is an uncommonly prescient investor.

2 minutes ago, Skuit said:

And he spends it before he has it but is an uncommonly prescient investor.

I'm not sure if it's that or he just processes things really fast - I can't remember if it was in the JLT or round 1 but I remember one play where he was charging inside 50, looked set to have a flying shot at goal, then passed it to 20m out at the absolute last second.  

It's one aspect of his game I'd love to see more of - getting on the end of outside ball. 

3 minutes ago, Nasher said:

I'm not sure if it's that or he just processes things really fast - I can't remember if it was in the JLT or round 1 but I remember one play where he was charging inside 50, looked set to have a flying shot at goal, then passed it to 20m out at the absolute last second.  

It's one aspect of his game I'd love to see more of - getting on the end of outside ball. 

I think both (as well as having great hearing). But his ability to hit a player blind suggests he has a pretty good idea of where everyone is and is moving before he collects. He's like Clarry-Anne Moss in the Matrix.

4 minutes ago, Skuit said:

I think both (as well as having great hearing). But his ability to hit a player blind suggests he has a pretty good idea of where everyone is and is moving before he collects. He's like Clarry-Anne Moss in the Matrix.

Yep, he has an amazing ability to know where everyone is in the contest, which direction they are facing and their momentum so as to put the ball to their direct advantage and away from an opponent. That dish off to Garlett last night where Jeffy streamed in to kick the goal is but one example. Often this happens in a fraction of a second and when he himself is travelling at speed, making the task all the more amazing.

On 3AW today, one of the footy panel said something along the lines of, this kid Oliver is going to be a star and he's only 22. They really do their homework, don't they. 

Judd thinks he's incredible. 

And on a side note. To maintain his clearance numbers in a team that lost its ruckman (one of them dominant) before half time in two of his five games is under appreciated. It's much easier to get your hands on the footy when you know where it's going. But to do it when the opponents ruckman is tapping it nearly every time is really tough. 

Edited April 25, 20177 yr by mrtwister

Loved the coaching he got from Macca, I think it was, before his first game. He was told "See ball, Get ball". He has really taken it to heart. Not only does he see ball, get ball he also has added "deliver ball".

Very simple really but he does it better than just about everyone else around him.

I certainly hope the umpires that are incorrectly pinging him for throws pay him back with some Brownlow votes.

This is a distinct possibility...

Round 1 - C Oliver, 3 votes.

Round 2 - C Oliver, 3 votes.

Round 3 - C Oliver, 0 votes.

Round 4 - C Oliver, 1 vote.

Round 5 - C Oliver, 3 votes.

10 votes to Round 5 is gettable. Staggeringly good for a second year player. He's in the same basket as Hogan - a statistical anomaly. 

9 minutes ago, A F said:

This is a distinct possibility...

Round 1 - C Oliver, 3 votes.

Round 2 - C Oliver, 3 votes.

Round 3 - C Oliver, 0 votes.

Round 4 - C Oliver, 1 vote.

Round 5 - C Oliver, 3 votes.

10 votes to Round 5 is gettable. Staggeringly good for a second year player. He's in the same basket as Hogan - a statistical anomaly. 

Love him, but not a chance, J. Riewoldt and T. Nankervis the dominant players on the ground.

Like most, would love some more kicks on the outside, as he is a good kick. The JLT game against West Coast was his most rounded game in that regard.

I think he would need to add a goal a game and get his handball to kick ratio closer to 50/50 to be a Brownlow chance.

But what a player.

7 hours ago, CHF said:

Loved the coaching he got from Macca, I think it was, before his first game. He was told "See ball, Get ball". He has really taken it to heart. Not only does he see ball, get ball he also has added "deliver ball".

Very simple really but he does it better than just about everyone else around him.

yeah the "see ball, get ball" is the main thing i notice. He just keeps going and going at it. There was a goal on Monday where he extracted it from the middle only to follow up and extract it again and give off to someone who goaled (or passed off to someone inside 50, can't remember)

He is probably now the second best and most important player on our list, behind Gawn, which is incredible given his age and inexperience. Over summer he had to work on running out games better, which he has done. Now he just needs to fix up his kicks to handballs ratio, and he will be a genuine elite player. 

Another 5 votes on Monday (votes from both coaches).  He's equal 4th the AFLCA leaderboard after round 5.

AFLCA LEADERBOARD
34 Rory Sloane (Adel)
31 Joel Selwood (Geel)
29 Ollie Wines (PA)
25 Dustin Martin (Rich)
25 Clayton Oliver (Melb)
23 Zach Merrett (Ess)
21 Luke Shuey (WC)
21 Elliot Yeo (WC)
20 Patrick Dangerfield (Geel)
20 Robbie Gray (PA)
20 David Mundy (Frem)

 

•  

25 minutes ago, ProDee said:

Another 5 votes on Monday (votes from both coaches).  He's equal 4th the AFLCA leaderboard after round 5.

AFLCA LEADERBOARD
34 Rory Sloane (Adel)
31 Joel Selwood (Geel)
29 Ollie Wines (PA)
25 Dustin Martin (Rich)
25 Clayton Oliver (Melb)
23 Zach Merrett (Ess)
21 Luke Shuey (WC)
21 Elliot Yeo (WC)
20 Patrick Dangerfield (Geel)
20 Robbie Gray (PA)
20 David Mundy (Frem)

 

•  

Scary thing is we could have had Sloane, Wines, Martin and Oliver if we drafted better. 

2 hours ago, ProDee said:

Another 5 votes on Monday (votes from both coaches).  He's equal 4th the AFLCA leaderboard after round 5.

AFLCA LEADERBOARD
34 Rory Sloane (Adel)
31 Joel Selwood (Geel)
29 Ollie Wines (PA)
25 Dustin Martin (Rich)
25 Clayton Oliver (Melb)
23 Zach Merrett (Ess)
21 Luke Shuey (WC)
21 Elliot Yeo (WC)
20 Patrick Dangerfield (Geel)
20 Robbie Gray (PA)
20 David Mundy (Frem)

 

•  

Holy moly look at those names his surrounded by..

Can't believe Martin receive two votes, he only did about five good things for the night. Most of his disposals lead to turn overs either directly from him or the next possession 

11 minutes ago, Wolfmother said:

Can't believe Martin receive two votes, he only did about five good things for the night. Most of his disposals lead to turn overs either directly from him or the next possession 

True. He was running at 34% disposal efficiently late in the last quarter. Absolute nothing game he played and did not deserve any votes at all unless there was a turn over merchant award.

12 hours ago, Forest Demon said:

Like most, would love some more kicks on the outside, as he is a good kick. The JLT game against West Coast was his most rounded game in that regard.

I think he would need to add a goal a game and get his handball to kick ratio closer to 50/50 to be a Brownlow chance.

But what a player.

I don't necessarily disagree with this statement, but his kicking has been poor this season. A large number of his kicks have hung in the air too long and been intercepted or spoilt as a result. I think this is playing a part in the amount of handbalsl as he appears to have lost some confidence in his kicking.

Edited April 26, 20177 yr by Watts the matter

Unless your blind it's easy to see Oliver gets a lot of the footy and gets it in a good way - but after watching his ability to get clocked twice in the nut and still dispose of the footy effectively last week thought it would be good to assess just how well he does as an effective accumulator vs the comps best this year.

looking at the top ten ball getters for the comp to date - here's Oliver by the numbers:

- games: 18 - a whopping 90 less than the avg of the rest of the top 10 and 34 less than the next least experienced in crouch

- avg disposals: 31.4 which sits him 6th but right behind selwood and gaff on 32

- avg marks: 4.6 which ranks him 7th but majority of top 10 avg between 4 and 5 per game bar Merritt and Rockliff who are above 6

- avg tackles: 7.8 which is 2nd with only selwood the tackling machine ahead on 8.2. Only Rockliff and treloar are also above 7 light years ahead of the rest.

- goals: 0 which if you take out dangerfield who has booted 9 puts him at only 1 goal behind the rest

- efficiency: 79.6 which, and most impressively, sits him 2nd behind only laird. After those two the next best users are selwood and gaff on 73 with all others below 70

i knew he was fast becoming a favourite d but when you sit back and look at him objectively - he's a super star. For someone of his lack of experience and is willing to get in apply pressure and do the hard ball gets, and yet to be getting so much of the footy and using it effectively 8 out of 10 times - it's scary how good he could be as he fills out and develops.

despite a few recent losses, it's blokes like this that make the d's still such an exciting prospect.

On 26/04/2017 at 2:51 PM, ManDee said:

Scary thing is we could have had Sloane, Wines, Martin and Oliver if we drafted better. 

If we did, we wouldn't have Oliver.

I know we keep going on about what a special talent we have, but statistically, he's currently tracking better than any other midfielder in the modern game (post 1990). He's on par with Greg Williams, regularly cited as one of the best midfielders of all time, and who started in the 1980's, so I won't count him.

His hands are Williams-like and his kicking is strong. Just his ability to be so clean in the wet the other night, said so much about his talents.

Edited April 27, 20177 yr by A F

6 minutes ago, A F said:

I know we keep going on about what a special talent we have, but statistically, he's currently tracking better than any other midfielder in the modern game (post 1990).

The first 5 games of his second year blow everyone else out of the water.  I hope and expect him to keep it up for the remainder of the year.

But when you isolate just his first 18 games I suspect Cripps and Tom Rockliff's numbers would probably be as good.