Oliver: The Forgotten Superstar?

[MyFavouriteMartian 572]

3 minutes ago, rjay said:

Would probably lead our tackle count at the moment.

He doesn't run back hard enough at times but tackling is not an issue, he lays them and they stick.

The superstars don't usually chase or tackle...at least he has half of this covered.

He could do with hitting the scoreboard a bit more but I agree with the article. He is a bit of the forgotten man...

We need leaders around the club,  not lazy players,  who do,  when they feel like doing.

If he will become one of our best players,  via attrition of age,  then  will he be a full leader of the team,  or will he be another also ran leader.?

He better start to think about the type of team and club he wants to be a part of,  or he will lead us to more  so-so  culture,  and so-so success.

 

It all starts with these young tyro's now,  and not wait for things to happen to them.

 

So it depends on Oli,  it depends on Tracca,  it depends on Harmes,  it depends on Viney,  it depends on Salem,  it depends on Neal-Bullen,  it depends on Lever,  it depends on OMc,  it depends on Fritta...

 

These players will soon be our main leaders,  and they have to start to mature in mind,  and begin to stand up tall.

[spirit of norm smith 16,292]

 Hamish “It’s all me” Mclachlan loves Cripps. He took one big mark and goal last week but imo he was BEATEN by Clarry Oliver. I’m not sure he even saw the match. Ridiculous  

[Stein9193 129]

On 6/17/2020 at 11:57 AM, dazzledavey36 said:

Agree.

When I think of superstars I think of Martin, Fyfes, Franklin's of the world.

Oliver is not in that "superstar" category.....yet

Careful now

[Josh 1,420]

On 6/18/2020 at 10:49 AM, Lord Travis said:

Oliver is a great midfielder, but he's not a superstar yet. There are two key parts of his game he needs to improve to become a superstar.

First, he needs to stand up and have an impact when the team needs it. Superstars drag their team along with them. Think Michael Voss bulldozing someone and kicking a goal when scores are tied. Think Dusty shoving aside multiple people and snapping his third goal of a quarter when scores are tied. The superstars have the ability to stand up when it's required. Oliver as yet doesn't do this. He consistently wins ball across games, but he doesn't have bursts of impact or stand up in big moments.

Second, he needs to hit the scoreboard. The difference between the superstars (Dusty, Fyfe, Dangerfield) and the next level down (T. Mitchell, Kelly, Oliver) is the superstars all hit the scoreboard. They do it consistently and sometimes in a big way. Dusty, Fyfe and Danger all rest forward and kick bags. the best players in the league are mid-forwards. Oliver showed glimpses of this in 2018, but as yet hasn't developed the forward part of his game.

I believe he can become a superstar. He has shown he has the ability and physical attributes, he just needs to develop them. At this stage, he came in a ball winning gun, and he's still a ball winning gun. He hasn't really developed much at all, but he is young and has plenty of time.

None of those players done it until they hit their "peak"

Martin specifically was useless and got a game on potential for 6 or so years (admittedly his ceiling was ridiculous)

I have this on going joke with a friend who is a bulldog supporter that Bontempelli isn't actually good, he is a product of the media. 

Footy wire confirms this as he has him covered in nearly every stat. But interestingly if you compare a 22 year old Oliver to any of days superstars he has them covered by the length of the straight. 

If he can continue his upward trend we will have a multiple brownlow medalist on our hands, such are his numbers.

[MyFavouriteMartian 572]

23 hours ago, Josh said:

None of those players done it until they hit their "peak"

Of course, no one does, until they hit their peak.

 

But Oli is at the same plateau he was on 2 seasons back.  He started his career, at close to the level he's currently on.

We all don't want him to do as others before him have done,  and just relax at that level.

He needs to start developing once again. 

We need him,  to add more strings to his bow,  of just get ball, flick it out.   We need him,  to start to impact outside, delivering. 

And it would be good to see him with a goal a game.?

Edited June 22, 2020 by MyFavouriteMartian

[Lord Travis 10,697]

23 hours ago, Josh said:

... 

Footy wire confirms this as he has him covered in nearly every stat. But interestingly if you compare a 22 year old Oliver to any of days superstars he has them covered by the length of the straight. 

If he can continue his upward trend we will have a multiple brownlow medalist on our hands, such are his numbers.

I agree with you that Clarry is a mile ahead of most other players, including some superstars, at the same age. Using your example of Dusty Martin being useless for 6 years or so... I'd strongly disagree with that. His first 6 years he averaged 24 disposals and over a goal a game. That's better than all our players current output bar Oliver (though 20+ more goals a year than Oliver, so you could argue otherwise), let alone that early into his career!

The problem identified with Oliver is it's not an upwards trend. Oliver has remained at a similar level his whole career and doesn't appear to be learning any new tricks. His peak was 2018 in terms of actual impact, so he's actually regressed the past two years. We don't want him to plateau because he's capable of so much more. We want to see him take games by the scruff of the neck instead of just chipping away at it. It's not that we don't think he's a gun already, we just want him to keep improving because he's capable of being more.

[Demon17 5,186]

On 6/18/2020 at 10:35 PM, spirit of norm smith said:

 Hamish “It’s all me” Mclachlan loves Cripps. He took one big mark and goal last week but imo he was BEATEN by Clarry Oliver. I’m not sure he even saw the match. Ridiculous  

Correct. I think the coaches votes went 10 for trac and 8 for Clarry, meaning both coaches thought they were best and 2nd best afield?

But leave Gil alone, he's handled the whole covid thing pretty well. The only major sporting CEO still standing, and deservedly so.

[Billy 2,521]

On 6/18/2020 at 10:14 PM, MyFavouriteMartian said:

We need leaders around the club,  not lazy players,  who do,  when they feel like doing.

If he will become one of our best players,  via attrition of age,  then  will he be a full leader of the team,  or will he be another also ran leader.?

He better start to think about the type of team and club he wants to be a part of,  or he will lead us to more  so-so  culture,  and so-so success.

 

It all starts with these young tyro's now,  and not wait for things to happen to them.

 

So it depends on Oli,  it depends on Tracca,  it depends on Harmes,  it depends on Viney,  it depends on Salem,  it depends on Neal-Bullen,  it depends on Lever,  it depends on OMc,  it depends on Fritta...

 

These players will soon be our main leaders,  and they have to start to mature in mind,  and begin to stand up tall.

Wow what a load of hot air 

Olivers the best 22yo in the competition & our best midfielder, yet you seem to think he’s lazy & needs to work out who he wants to be???

 

[whatwhat say what 22,700]

when all these hot new things have had as good a start to their careers as oliver then we might be able to compare / contrast

can't wait to see our bloodnut go head to head with gc17's one

[Deemania since 56 6,609]

On 6/17/2020 at 3:01 PM, Forest Demon said:

100% agree. He is underrated, but does also have another level to go as well, which would put him right up there with the top handful in the comp.

He is really our most reliable player - it's just that he does so many things with the ball, particularly in disposal/disbursement. He usually delivers from well inside the midline - ie: rapidly - and then follows up a short distance following the direction of delivery.

As second efforts, he is known to rebound the ball should it have been intercepted by the opposition.

I, too, would delight in seeing him moving just that little bit forward in order to kick goals himself. Similar to what Greg Wells used to do from the 'centre'.

However, his safety mentality places many tasks on his plate; keeping central in the midfield is one of these. With our team structure and its implementation, these are most probably the two most important things on his mind - delivery upfield and safety rebounding. We can boast that he has many talents and tricks in such processes; sometimes, we are surprised by the speed he employs in decision-making and execution as well as the methods he employs in crowded midfields to achieve positive outcomes so consistently.

He is more than underrated, as well, his record clearly shows that he is one of the stars of the game and certainly, one of the best Demons, ever. With stronger linkages within the midfield and a few similar 'delivery and rebound' mentalities in the existing midfield, we may see Oliver become a prolific, forward driving goal-kicker. It would be fantastic.

[rjay 24,887]

Something to think about...

How many of these goal kicking mids kick their goals whilst playing in the midfield?

Do most of their goals come whilst resting forward?

I think Martin for one kicks most of his goals when playing forward.

Then, do we want Oliver to play as a mid or a forward?

I think we a weaker when he is out of the midfield.

Leave him be a mid and kick the odd goal rather than spending time forward to kick more...

[MyFavouriteMartian 572]

7 hours ago, rjay said:

Something to think about...

How many of these goal kicking mids kick their goals whilst playing in the midfield?

Do most of their goals come whilst resting forward?

I think Martin for one kicks most of his goals when playing forward.

Then, do we want Oliver to play as a mid or a forward?

I think we a weaker when he is out of the midfield.

Leave him be a mid and kick the odd goal rather than spending time forward to kick more...

How far is it, from the centre-circle to the 50Mtr arc.?

 

Both,  he should be covering centre-bounce,  to inside H-Forward line,  on each of our forays into F50.

And we need diversity for our midfield rotations.

 

We need more than 4 players in our team, who can be starting Mids.

Edited June 23, 2020 by MyFavouriteMartian

[rjay 24,887]

1 hour ago, MyFavouriteMartian said:

We need more than 4 players in our team, who can be starting Mids.

We have, but when you've got probably the best starting mid in the competition you would be stupid not to have him play there at just about every opportunity.

[MyFavouriteMartian 572]

2 minutes ago, rjay said:

We have, but when you've got probably the best starting mid in the competition you would be stupid not to have him play there at just about every opportunity.

Call me stupid,  but I would want him to learn to play differing parts of the ground.   I want him to be damaging whichever spot he plays.

 

You saw how 1st year player Matt Rowell ran the ball,  and played generally.

[Engorged Onion 10,215]

He is up there with the modern day greats at an earlier age.

The other 400' club

 

Edited August 4, 2021 by Engorged Onion

[In Harmes Way 7,741]

Thanks for posting the article @Engorged Onion, good read. I particularly liked the cheeky comment at the bottom!

[Billy 2,521]

Love this bit

As of right now, we are witnessing something special from Clayton Oliver, and anyone who criticises what he doesn’t do, or what he could do, should take a bit of gander at what he does do.

 

[rjay 24,887]

On 6/23/2020 at 7:25 PM, rjay said:

We have, but when you've got probably the best starting mid in the competition you would be stupid not to have him play there at just about every opportunity.

 

On 6/23/2020 at 7:32 PM, MyFavouriteMartian said:

Call me stupid,  but I would want him to learn to play differing parts of the ground.   I want him to be damaging whichever spot he plays.

 

You saw how 1st year player Matt Rowell ran the ball,  and played generally.

I think it's now official...

[Wizard of Koz 1,085]

since his first quarter he has been our best player at the club.

 

[Hopeful Demon 1,517]

I think that this has been his best season to date and that says a lot considering that he has already had numerous elite years. It's difficult to think that he's less than 25 years old because he's accomplished so much in his first five years at the club.

[dazzledavey36 54,285]

Turned 24 only few weeks ago....

[DeezNuts 624]

Look at my icon, it’s there for a reason…

ball in hand, this guy, magic…. It can always happen..!

[BDA 22,735]

He's a monster. Practically untaggable. Leading the coaches votes. 2 x AA and another on the way this year

Goal kicking was better v the suns. the only area of his game where he can improve.

We're very lucky to have him (and signed up for another few seasons)

[D4Life 2,454]

Absolute Gun with a capital G!

Not sure his numbers last year but in a 17 game season he was probably on his way to another 400 in a normal season.

We are lucky to have Petracca and Oliver together, both stars!

Add Maxy, May, Lever, Salem before injury slowed him, and look forward to Pickett and Jackson, our future is bright!!

[Demons11 6,915]

Freak!