The interview was before training. He says ‘I haven’t got through training yet’. Let’s not jump at shadows. He’s not talking in real time. He’s talking about getting though training because he’s interviewed BEFORE training.

It’s not all falling apart. I promise.

51 minutes ago, SFebes said:

I don't see that interview as arrogant, rude or whatever....that is just him, awkward and weird plus a hate for the attention. Nothingball. 

My thoughts precisely.

I saw the posts here and braced myself for some sort of bombshell.

It was just standard Clayton Oliver. He’s flat when he talks and he’s clearly jaded by how many times he’s had to press for fitness that he’s almost joking about it. 

Such a pity about Petty. Hopefully TMac/BBB can save the day. I can't see Grundy working, but maybe we will give it another try. Would love to be proven wrong in regards to Grundy though.

Contrast Clayton's interview with Daicos' press conference and there's why Oliver isn't rated in the media - he's just not a charismatic media performer and has no time for that stuff.

Not worried, though I do think Oliver would have been able to play before this week (or at least thinks he would have), and the reason he isn't is not because of his lack of confidence in his body but our medical staff and club not wanting to take any chances with our most important wildcard.

3 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

My thoughts precisely.

I saw the posts here and braced myself for some sort of bombshell.

It was just standard Clayton Oliver. He’s flat when he talks and he’s clearly jaded by how many times he’s had to press for fitness that he’s almost joking about it. 

I'm confused.

Which posts led you to that conclusion ie bombshell?

Look, I could care less to be honest.

My point was that he comes across as a merchant banker and provides zero useful information. In fact provides more confusion. 

The two people asking questions are just doing their job.

Again, why stop and take questions if he didn't want to answer any and was just going to be unnecessarily rude?

If you don't like talking about your hammy  or to the media, don't. It wasn't a club organised thing. He is the one who chose to stop and take questions. 

Anyway, as I said I could care less.

33 minutes ago, Demon Dynasty said:

Reading between the lines, if that is possible with a Clarry interview...

Is there a disconnect between player, the HPT and the coaches/assistant coaches ideas as to what he has to tick off at training vs where each of them (including Clarry hinself) 'thinks' he is at recovery wise.

I get the impression Clarry believes he's been right to go for a while but is being held up by the either the HP process (or head of) and/or one or more of the coaches.  Possibly just the HP dept!

In other words, Clarry believes it's just a training session to get through, which in his eyes is a minor thing with a few easy hurdles, but that he may be blocked by someone (or others) imposing overly severe hurdles (in his eyes).

I get the impression he is skirting around all that.  Trying not to blurt something out along those lines and aware that it would not be a good look to go public with any sort of disunity type issue no matter how miniscule, small or something a little more significant (for him)?

I wouldn't put it past Clayton to actually not even understand fully what he's not doing "right". I would be surprised if he fully understands everything the HP officer and coach are even asking of him, and why it's important. It definitely wouldn't factor into his worldview of what football is about and what you need to do to prove you're ready for an AFL game.

Lucky for us he doesn't get to make that choice.

53 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

A lot of fugazi going on here. And way too much being made of a nothing interview from a guy who can’t string two coherent words together. 
Train tomorrow. Play Saturday. 
 

There is a certain level of irony Jaded in you suggesting others are over reacting or making too much out of something.

9 hours ago, fr_ap said:

Agree with this, skiing is the best 

Are YOU the archetypal MFC supporter?

14 minutes ago, Chook said:

I wouldn't put it past Clayton to actually not even understand fully what he's not doing "right". I would be surprised if he fully understands everything the HP officer and coach are even asking of him, and why it's important. It definitely wouldn't factor into his worldview of what football is about and what you need to do to prove you're ready for an AFL game.

Lucky for us he doesn't get to make that choice.

Agree.  Not sure that Clarrie, our brilliant courageous footballer is ever in the running for a Nobel Prize in philosophy or rocket science.  
I do get the impression that he may either choose not to follow to the letter, or perhaps fully understand, his rehabilitation and recovery programme. He just loves the basics and wants to play footy. 

Edited August 8, 20231 yr by monoccular

17 minutes ago, binman said:

There is a certain level of irony Jaded in you suggesting others are over reacting or making too much out of something.

And there is an even bigger level of irony that you, of all people, are taking this poor media performance to heart instead of listening to what Goodwin and Richo have both said this week. 
 

You’re the first person to call fugazi on literally anything, but Clarry having a poor day communicating on camera is worrying you? 

1 hour ago, Demonland said:

Here is the door stop interview with Oliver.

 

 

40 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

My thoughts precisely.

I saw the posts here and braced myself for some sort of bombshell.

It was just standard Clayton Oliver. He’s flat when he talks and he’s clearly jaded by how many times he’s had to press for fitness that he’s almost joking about it. 

Yep, definitely just standard Clarry!  Having listened to a few podcasts with him being interviewed, this is almost exactly what he sounds like when he's trying to give a nuanced answer but doesn't really know wtf he's saying 😂

1 hour ago, RedLegs23 said:

We’ll that’s it Bin.

Both Goody & Richo have pretty much said he’s good to go, yet Claz himself doesn’t exude a hell of a lot of confidence, does he?

Just taking the [censored]? Yeah, hopefully…

 

He's not exactly the wordsmith.

 Clarry still sounds doubtful!?!?! 

21 hours ago, layzie said:

Makes that optimal tackle area smaller really. Avoid slinging them to the ground and hitting their head but then you risk twisting legs up and potentially doing ACLs and other serious injuries that could hurt careers.

It's just not possible to hold every player up in a tackle and I really don't know how this will play out. 

why not Auskick rules that would work!

8 hours ago, Jaded No More said:

And there is an even bigger level of irony that you, of all people, are taking this poor media performance to heart instead of listening to what Goodwin and Richo have both said this week. 
 

You’re the first person to call fugazi on literally anything, but Clarry having a poor day communicating on camera is worrying you? 

Jaded,  there seems to be a disconnect.

Taking it to heart?

As I literally said, I could care less.

I put zero store in what he said in terms of thinking it reflected some reality of wether he would play or not.

My only point on that front, and it was far from a strident one, was he risked creating some unnecessary confusion. Which the very first, completely reasonable, post from gawndy on the topic, highlighted.

As is logical.

Not every one is as inside baseball as us, so not everyone knows to completely disregard clarry when he implies he had no idea if he is playing this week - or anything else he said for that matter. And so might be confused when they watch a club video saying he 100% will. 

Robbo and whately both dismissed what he said because it was wacky. Anyone who knows what clarry is like would too. As I immediately did. 

Zero fugazi.

My point, which i thought was clear is he was under no obligation to stop and answer questions. 

He CHOSE to do so.

And then chose to be rude.

Call me old fashioned, but I dislike rudeness or people being impolite.

Particularly sports people who live a privileged life getting paid a fortune to live out their dreams.

And I'm disappointed clarry, a dees player, was rude.

I have seen him do exactly that sort of door stop interview before and NOT be rude.

If he were my son, who is only a few years younger than clarry, and he acted like that, i would have told him he should consider pulling his head in and show a bit more respect.

And remind him, that like it or not, he is a role model to little kids.

I might even remind him if he chooses to stop and talk to the media he should remember he is choosing to represent the club.

Again. I get it. He is not a great communicator. He is frustrated. He doesn't like doing media.

THEN DON'T STOP AND CHOOSE TO TAKE QUESTIONS.

For petes's sake he's mid 20s. A grown adult. Not some 18 year old kid fresh off the farm. He should grow up.

I'm not sure Smith will get the gig over Grundy. Smith has a great leap but we would be lacking in height. Even though Grundy isn't the best mark ( gee Petty was good) , be will get the ball to ground and or smalls who are in good nick will get to work. It's a big blow but as others have astutely mentioned Petty really only played two successful games fwd.  Maybe Bbb will return but he looked injured. Let's just hope Oliver and Fritta get back in asap. Gee 21 was a dream run with limited injuries. 

10 hours ago, SFebes said:

I don't see that interview as arrogant, rude or whatever....that is just him, awkward and weird plus a hate for the attention. Nothingball. 

I didn't even find it awkward. He was actually better spoken than he normally is.

I have absolutely no idea why people are squirming. He's very confident he'll play, but he needs to tick off the training session, which is exactly the same messaging as the FD gave...

Perhaps Clarry was unaware of the press release by Richo stating he would play if he got through training. He may have been thought he had to be vague about it. That coupled with his gift of the gab (not) equals that mess of an interview.

This has to be the most anticipated training session of the year.

Clarry could be the difference in September.

9 hours ago, binman said:

I'm confused.

Which posts led you to that conclusion ie bombshell?

Look, I could care less to be honest.

My point was that he comes across as a merchant banker and provides zero useful information. In fact provides more confusion. 

The two people asking questions are just doing their job.

Again, why stop and take questions if he didn't want to answer any and was just going to be unnecessarily rude?

If you don't like talking about your hammy  or to the media, don't. It wasn't a club organised thing. He is the one who chose to stop and take questions. 

Anyway, as I said I could care less.

Sounds to me  like you could care less, considering the amount of words you’ve used to say you couldn’t care less. 

Edited August 8, 20231 yr by Roost it far

43 minutes ago, leave it to deever said:

I'm not sure Smith will get the gig over Grundy. Smith has a great leap but we would be lacking in height. Even though Grundy isn't the best mark ( gee Petty was good) , be will get the ball to ground and or smalls who are in good nick will get to work. It's a big blow but as others have astutely mentioned Petty really only played two successful games fwd.  Maybe Bbb will return but he looked injured. Let's just hope Oliver and Fritta get back in asap. Gee 21 was a dream run with limited injuries. 

Two things come to mind reading these discussions and watching games.

Why do AFL players( MFC) lack the full  repertoire of kicking skills ..long,short,low or elevated and accurate,deployed  according to need and how difficult is it to mark a ball when in the primarily advantaged ,balanced position?

Getting  fit, knowing the rules and game plans seem to be achievable  but the first two I mentioned are surely the basic selection criteria for the job and " soft" hands vs " hard" hands appear to be a learnable skill for a professional sportsman.

Petty can catch the ball ..big tick 

 

Edited August 8, 20231 yr by IRW

39 minutes ago, binman said:

Jaded,  there seems to be a disconnect.

Taking it to heart?

As I literally said, I could care less.

I put zero store in what he said in terms of thinking it reflected some reality of wether he would play or not.

My only point on that front, and it was far from a strident one, was he risked creating some unnecessary confusion. Which the very first, completely reasonable, post from gawndy on the topic, highlighted.

As is logical.

Not every one is as inside baseball as us, so not everyone knows to completely disregard clarry when he implies he had no idea if he is playing this week - or anything else he said for that matter. And so might be confused when they watch a club video saying he 100% will. 

Robbo and whately both dismissed what he said because it was wacky. Anyone who knows what clarry is like would too. As I immediately did. 

Zero fugazi.

My point, which i thought was clear is he was under no obligation to stop and answer questions. 

He CHOSE to do so.

And then chose to be rude.

Call me old fashioned, but I dislike rudeness or people being impolite.

Particularly sports people who live a privileged life getting paid a fortune to live out their dreams.

And I'm disappointed clarry, a dees player, was rude.

I have seen him do exactly that sort of door stop interview before and NOT be rude.

If he were my son, who is only a few years younger than clarry, and he acted like that, i would have told him he should consider pulling his head in and show a bit more respect.

And remind him, that like it or not, he is a role model to little kids.

I might even remind him if he chooses to stop and talk to the media he should remember he is choosing to represent the club.

Again. I get it. He is not a great communicator. He is frustrated. He doesn't like doing media.

THEN DON'T STOP AND CHOOSE TO TAKE QUESTIONS.

For petes's sake he's mid 20s. A grown adult. Not some 18 year old kid fresh off the farm. He should grow up.

I don’t think he came across as rude at all.

To me he came across as someone who thinks he’s been right to play for weeks and been told no by the club, so is saying I don’t know if I’ll play as he knows the decision is ultimately not his to make. Bit of a dig at the power above I’d say.
It’s why he mentioned needing to get through training because he’s obviously been told that’s a non negotiable. It’s also why I think he was playing around at training pretending like he hurt his hammy. He’s clearly just a frustrated player who has been told no too often for his own liking recently and can’t handle it. It is, after all, his first ever serious injury. 

He came across as annoyed and incoherent. As for not stopping for the media, I think that would have been more rude and caused more panic. “Oh Clarry is refusing to answer questions about his recovery. What’s he hiding?!!!”

I think ultimately the media should know he’s not going to give them what they want, which is a clear coherent well spoken discussion about a topic. Go to Trac, Lever or Gawn for that. Not Clarry 😂

 

And by the way, given the rubbish that’s been aimed at him and the club from mainstream and social media during this hamstring saga, I reckon he has every right to flip everyone off. He is after all a drug trafficker 🙄

Edited August 8, 20231 yr by Jaded No More

33 minutes ago, Binmans PA said:

I didn't even find it awkward. He was actually better spoken than he normally is.

I have absolutely no idea why people are squirming. He's very confident he'll play, but he needs to tick off the training session, which is exactly the same messaging as the FD gave...

How come you get to be Binman's PA? 😝

46 minutes ago, binman said:

Jaded,  there seems to be a disconnect.

Taking it to heart?

As I literally said, I could care less.

I put zero store in what he said in terms of thinking it reflected some reality of wether he would play or not.

My only point on that front, and it was far from a strident one, was he risked creating some unnecessary confusion. Which the very first, completely reasonable, post from gawndy on the topic, highlighted.

As is logical.

Not every one is as inside baseball as us, so not everyone knows to completely disregard clarry when he implies he had no idea if he is playing this week - or anything else he said for that matter. And so might be confused when they watch a club video saying he 100% will. 

Robbo and whately both dismissed what he said because it was wacky. Anyone who knows what clarry is like would too. As I immediately did. 

Zero fugazi.

My point, which i thought was clear is he was under no obligation to stop and answer questions. 

He CHOSE to do so.

And then chose to be rude.

Call me old fashioned, but I dislike rudeness or people being impolite.

Particularly sports people who live a privileged life getting paid a fortune to live out their dreams.

And I'm disappointed clarry, a dees player, was rude.

I have seen him do exactly that sort of door stop interview before and NOT be rude.

If he were my son, who is only a few years younger than clarry, and he acted like that, i would have told him he should consider pulling his head in and show a bit more respect.

And remind him, that like it or not, he is a role model to little kids.

I might even remind him if he chooses to stop and talk to the media he should remember he is choosing to represent the club.

Again. I get it. He is not a great communicator. He is frustrated. He doesn't like doing media.

THEN DON'T STOP AND CHOOSE TO TAKE QUESTIONS.

For petes's sake he's mid 20s. A grown adult. Not some 18 year old kid fresh off the farm. He should grow up.

Bin, I think you're looking into this far too deeply and carrying on a bit.

Clarry wasn't being rude at all. This has been Clayton's persona since well before he entered the AFL system. He was exactly like this certainly in my time dealing with him at the Murray Bushrangers. 

He's generally a shy guy who struggles to compose himself in front of camera at times. Similar to Dusty. 

He gets anxiety and nervous. You can't be critical of people if this something they're really uncomfortable naturally purely because for your own sake he's representing the club and has to be role model for kids.

As if kids are going to look into this and then change their opinions on him as a player.. c'mon mate.

We shouldn't be critical of others when they're put in a situation they're uncomfortable with.

 

I think after 10 + weeks of being on the sidelines and trying to do everything possible to get back, then having hospital visits and false dawns (See frustration towards Selwyn) he's understandably not going to be 100% adamant on playing until he is playing. 

Trac said it himself that Clarry has not taken this very well, it's been a rough period. Yes not the cleanest interview but he's got plenty on his mind. 

25 minutes ago, IRW said:

Two things come to mind reading these discussions and watching games.

Why do AFL players( MFC) lack the full  repertoire of kicking skills ..long,short,low or elevated and accurate,deployed  according to need and how difficult is it to mark a ball when in the primarily advantaged ,balanced position?

Getting  fit, knowing the rules and game plans seem to be achievable  but the first two I mentioned are surely the basic selection criteria for the job and " soft" hands vs " hard" hands appear to be a learnable skill for a professional sportsman.

Petty can catch the ball ..big tick .

They might have got used to kicking it to him if they had the variety of disposal skills on tap. 

A big loss for the run to the end of 2023 season