Why Oliver is More Dangerous Than You Think

[Salems Lot 2,692]

3 hours ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

Werridee might be able to put together a team. I'll donate Nathan Buckley's name to the list. And Nat Fyfe.

Round, Quinlan, Templeton, Moore, Wilson, Barker not a flag between them

[Deestroy All 14,266]

His 2nd halves destroy teams. Seems to ramp it up while everyone else is slowing down. At least it looks that way. 
 

The most consistent player in my time on earth. 

[hemingway 7,633]

I think Oliver is so good that any criticism is simply absurd. There is no perfect player, there is no perfect human being. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. All the footy greats have had them. Oliver does things that I have never seen before. You know what I mean. 

He is a freak or very close to one. At the very least he has skills that make him a great player. 

We are lucky to have him. Sit back watch him closely, enjoy it, be amazed at what he can do, and forget the faults. 

I have made my mind up. He is a freak! And he is our freak. Enjoy the moment because down the track he will be gone. We will not see his like again. And like Robbie he will be just a memory and we will sit back and say, how good was Oliver. 

[jnrmac 20,338]

38 minutes ago, Deestroy All said:

His 2nd halves destroy teams. Seems to ramp it up while everyone else is slowing down. At least it looks that way. 
 

The most consistent player in my time on earth. 

I'd love to see his second half or last qtr stats,

He has great stamina and is usually still running full tilt. And he is ultra competitive.  Very impressive.

[Mono 460]

On 5/2/2021 at 12:16 AM, McQueen said:

It’s also good to see Darcy Parish is also stating to get a few touches. 
 

But seriously, Paul Roos is the man to thank for getting Oliver in the red and blue. 

Yep. They traded up the draft just to get Oliver. In Roos time.

[Maldonboy38 6,435]

I sat back and had a think of the great Dees midfielders I have seen since the early 70's, and I reckon this bloke is the best I have seen. A big call, but I honestly can't see a more natural on-baller during any era. His movement and game-reading around a contest are breath taking, his hands are as quick as Sam Mitchell, Simon Black, Greg Williams and co.

But for me it is his pace. He plays the game at full tilt. And he is still sprinting while others are out on their feet. He is so good, I would absolutely loathe him if he played for another team. 

[Dr. Gonzo 24,467]

6 hours ago, Forest Demon said:

10 votes from the coaches, yet still didn’t get in many Demonlander’s top 6 on the first page of the votes thread. Unbelievable.

That's a shock! I never venture into those threads or give my votes but I thought he was clearly our best yesterday followed by Lever, May, Salem and TMac.

Edited May 17, 2021 by Dr. Gonzo

[Fork 'em 7,052]

Oliver is the 2nd player picked in my Supercoach side behind Gawn every year.
I rest my case.

Petracca 3rd FWIW.

Edited May 17, 2021 by Fork 'em

[Timothy Reddan-A'Blew 5,679]

Footy Classified just had a piece highlighting the 2021 improvement in his kicking, both choice of targets and delivery to those targets.

The already 'wow' getting 'wower'.

[Mel Bourne 4,540]

1 hour ago, Maldonboy38 said:

He is so good, I would absolutely loathe him if he played for another team. 

Can the club lock him in, a la Trac?

Is the money there? Would be a wise investment, to say the absolute least. 

[deegirl 1,584]

From his first game I've been in football love with Clarry.  He's a gun and does not get enough credit from our supporters.

[Lucifers Hero 40,695]

11 hours ago, dieter said:

An ex AFL player who lives in Wang. says Oliver had 'issues' which stopped most clubs from looking at him. You may recall, at the end of his first year at the Demons there was an 'issue' involving a motor car and the police and Oliver. 

I love the guy, watched his first few intra club matches at Casey in the ROOs/Hogan days and he was always going to be a very unique and gifted talent. ALso saw his first game against GWS in 2016. He 'had' it.

Can't comment on any issues in his youth at Wang but the issue at the Dees was very minor. 

iirc it wasn't an accident.  He had a + alcohol reading while on P plates (should be zero).  He was not over .05 which means he could not have had many drinks.  I'm not condoning his mistake,  just giving more context to your statement.  There was no police action.  The club asked him to get education and he apologised to the team. 

His behaviour since the + reading has been exemplary on and off the field.  He is one of our hardest trainers and takes his football very seriously.

I'm sure you don't intend to cast dispersion on his character but claims about 'issues' need a bit more  substance.

[dieter 3,325]

49 minutes ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

Can't comment on any issues in his youth at Wang but the issue at the Dees was very minor. 

iirc it wasn't an accident.  He had a + alcohol reading while on P plates (should be zero).  He was not over .05 which means he could not have had many drinks.  I'm not condoning his mistake,  just giving more context to your statement.  There was no police action.  The club asked him to get education and he apologised to the team. 

His behaviour since the + reading has been exemplary on and off the field.  He is one of our hardest trainers and takes his football very seriously.

I'm sure you don't intend to cast dispersion on his character but claims about 'issues' need a bit more  substance.

My friend in Wang said the problem was to do with the need for a lot of attention. THat's all he came up with: said it turned a lot of other clubs away.

Sorry if I gave the impression there was police action and what I also should have mentioned is that I now regularly point to  Oliver's previous games and ask him if he's changed his opinion. My friend is also not a Charlie Spargo fan. I often ask him if he's changed his mind yet as well.

[Simon Port 205]

Clarry is a genuine freak. He's the number one contested possession player in the comp, has incredible hands, he's super quick and has strong hands overhead. He is just everywhere and I can't remember him ever covering the ground this well. Gawn made a point a couple of weeks ago that he's also working very hard defensively to get back to help the defenders. He tackles well, is super tough and I would argue is the most consistent player in the comp and never has a bad game. My favourite Melbourne football club player ever. 

[david_neitz_is_my_dad 4,084]

13 hours ago, Fork 'em said:

Oliver is the 2nd player picked in my Supercoach side behind Gawn every year.
I rest my case.

Petracca 3rd FWIW.

He has been my Captain all season

[Jaded No More 68,976]

3 hours ago, dieter said:

My friend in Wang said the problem was to do with the need for a lot of attention. THat's all he came up with: said it turned a lot of other clubs away.

Sorry if I gave the impression there was police action and what I also should have mentioned is that I now regularly point to  Oliver's previous games and ask him if he's changed his opinion. My friend is also not a Charlie Spargo fan. I often ask him if he's changed his mind yet as well.

Any 17 year old who gets told to lose weight to make his AFL dreams come true, and does it no questions asked, is someone who you know has all the right motivation and drive to succeed in this industry. Most 17 year olds would have told the recruiters to get stuffed. 

He found himself being picked at the top end of the draft not because he had freakish skills, but also because he did what Melbourne wanted him to do even before he was a listed player.

For someone his age to come in, miss barely no games through injury (knock on wood!) and play such high TOG consistently every week, you know he is working his [censored] off and is very diligent about his fitness and recovery. 

[Demon17 5,251]

14 hours ago, Mono said:

Yep. They traded up the draft just to get Oliver. In Roos time.

Goody deserves some credit also.

He met Oliver in his Mum's kitchen pre-draft and said if Clayton shed 6 kg they would look at him .

he did, and he was drafted.

Roos gave the Dees credibility - Goody set the standard fro Clayton's undeniable talent.

[Gawndy the Great 9,011]

Love his work. I think we have 3 of the top 10 players in the comp at the moment in Oliver, Trac and Gawn and probably another 2-3 in the top 20 (Lever, Salo and May). 

Such a balanced side playing great team footy. Love Oliver's 2-way running this year and his improved kicking. He is still a young boy and still has some upside. 

Could he win a brownlow? 

[Cheffy 18]

Absolute jet. Lifted his disposal and started kicking more, even better player now too. Only area I'd like to see more of is goal-kicking. I think he can rest in the forward line, especially if tagged - takes a good mark. Shots-for-goal would make him impossible to match up on. Love watching him

[In Harmes Way 7,869]

5 minutes ago, CYB said:

Could he win a brownlow? 

Biggest problem is around 10 blokes stealing votes from him.

[Superunknown 4,246]

25 minutes ago, In Harmes Way said:

Biggest problem is around 10 blokes stealing votes from him.

If he kicked more goals he might get more attention.

But yeah, Tracc, Gawn and Salem take votes. Be interesting to see how Saint Ed Langdon polls. Man I love him to bits. Pops up on the goal line to touch on the way through. Mr Everywhere. My current jumper has #13 for Jako and Oliver but the next might have to be #15.

[FlashInThePan 1,893]

On 5/1/2021 at 11:25 PM, A F said:

My favourite player. He's getting close to A+ grade and has been A grade since his third season.

Criminally underrated by the press and perhaps even more underrated by Melbourne supporters. The guy is a genuine star of the game. If he stays at Melbourne for his career, he'll be one of our greats.

Glad he's finally getting some media kudos. He only managed an AA jacket in his third year.

A Sam Mitchell clone, except explosive from the contest.

Absolutely agree with the sentiment of your post. Just out of interest though, what is your definition of A+ ? He is currently ranked 2 in coaches votes, he is ranked 8 in Supercoach for midfielders. I think most of us would rate him as one of the best midfielders Melbourne has ever had.

[Adam The God 30,704]

1 hour ago, FlashInThePan said:

Absolutely agree with the sentiment of your post. Just out of interest though, what is your definition of A+ ? He is currently ranked 2 in coaches votes, he is ranked 8 in Supercoach for midfielders. I think most of us would rate him as one of the best midfielders Melbourne has ever had.

A consistently elite performer. If you look at his clearance numbers, ground ball gets, tackles and handballs for most of his years, he's elite in all areas. His ability to get first hands on the ball and accelerate into and out of the contest is a very rare trait and his hands are the best I've ever seen in a Melbourne jumper. I reckon he's top 3 best handballers of the 21st century. He might be one of the greatest handballers of all time.

Edited May 18, 2021 by A F

[Demon17 5,251]

2 hours ago, In Harmes Way said:

Biggest problem is around 10 blokes stealing votes from him.

On the couch last night pointed out Ed Langdon is AFL ranked No.1 winger for goals kicked.

He's geeting votes for sure seeing he's never off the ground.

[Demon17 5,251]

2 hours ago, Superunknown said:

If he kicked more goals he might get more attention.

But yeah, Tracc, Gawn and Salem take votes. Be interesting to see how Saint Ed Langdon polls. Man I love him to bits. Pops up on the goal line to touch on the way through. Mr Everywhere. My current jumper has #13 for Jako and Oliver but the next might have to be #15.

He's doing the great Stan Alves playing memory justice in the No. 15 too.