demoniac

I suspect Connor Sports would be putting pressure on the Cats to agree to above.

Grab a future first rounder and a 2nd round draft pick and clean air and move on. Oliver takes a pay cut to whatever Cats want to pony up. Hopefully Oliver continues to address his non football issues and can get back to somewhere near his best. Hopefully.

No two 'issues' are the same, and some 'issues' are more challenging to manage than other 'issues'.

Owies problem is that he’s a 179cm one paced marking forward with no exposed midfield form. Doesn’t have the speed, defensive pressure or ground ball gathering ability of small forwards de jour. Means in an era when speed and spread is prioritised he is seen as a limited contributor.

If Oliver can keep addressing his non football issues then he may get back to the elite fitness levels AFL demands and once again be a valuable player for the Dees after 2 years of effectively zero production due to those non football issues. Will he be at the Dees in 2025? We'll know at the end of trade period. Sometimes reservoirs of patience and energy can be exhausted. Football clubs are no different.

any mid who could match his opponents running.

the depth at Casey had done the work in the preseason to be fit to play AFL. Goodwin and others selected Oliver when he had not done the work and was not fit to play AFL and this was exploited by his opponents who knew they could outspread him, and the more they ran, the further he'd be behind them.

Its clear he was given too much leeway for too long before football was taken away. His challenges are significant. and require ongoing management. There is no off the shelf one size fits all process for dealing with each individuals unique challenges. Managing Oliver's challenges would be a challenge for any club.

Not all challenges people face are the same are they?

I've been a member since squadron days in the 70s and I'll be a member till I shuffle off into the great beyond. We may have reached a point where it is not tenable for Oliver to stay. In any relationship between an organisation and employee there are always limits of patience and trust. We should know if that point has been reached today. The deal may not be ideal but we get cap space, some trade return like Cats 2025 First which may be in the high teens/early 20 and much needed clean air. Then we're looking at more clean air, those responsible for not upholding cultural standards and expectations, and for the what now seems a high risk Oliver extension. Pert, Richardson, Lamb go. Goodwin is a challenge because of soft cap. Revisit end of 2025 when its only a one year payout. If we are not playing a competitive game style he goes. Advised he needs to accept that players won't be indulged as they have been. Players don't have to be choir boys but the leeway will be much smaller. Board needs to address its oversight failures.

really more who is the 4th!

Richmond Under 19s say hi!

Does Oliver have any insight into why Melbourne are considering trading him?

And the playing group?

How would you manage the cap?

Ultimately if playing group has run out of patience with Oliver then his time is up. Goodwin and other coaches just have to accept this. Its up to Connor Sports to work out a deal where Geelong pay all of whatever contract he agrees to and Geelong provides acceptable trade return. We get cap space, trade return and much needed clean air. Geelong get Oliver and associated ongoing management of his non football issues to add to Stengle and Smith. It might work. It might not.

Its fairly obvious that the Melbourne Football Club has devoted substantial resources in assisting Oliver with his non football issues in 2023 and likely before. Sometimes patience runs out and a clean start with a clean slate may be best option. Will the clean start work? Time will tell.

There can't be a FD position, there has to be a agreed club position. If Pert as CEO has executed actions not in compliance with the agreed club position then his position would be untenable. But that sounds unlikely. Thinking floating Oliver for trade discretely would not hit the media remains naive.

What if its not ie Pert was executing an agreed plan signed off by football department? The idea that you could float a player for trade and think it would not leak is still naive.

Jim Cardwell says hello!

its tiring following the shifting Oliver narratives. Todays narrative: Dees (everyone or some maybe Pert) - have encouraged Oliver to test market. Oliver wants to stay but is testing market. I'll be in my reserved seat come our first 2025 home game!

Is that on the Dees or on Geelong, Connor Sports and Clayton Oliver?

He substantially underperformed his high value contract in seasons 2023 and 2024 due to non football issues. The club devoted substantial resources to assisting him in working through his non football issues. Arguably we even prioritised his overcoming his non football issues over selection integrity in 2024 in playing Oliver when he was clearly no fit to play. At some point is it possible that the responsibilty for Oliver leaving the club lies with Oliver? The above does not mean we give him away or subsidise his contract but that the trade return, cap space and clean air may equal a pragmatic return.

As long as we don't pay a cent of his contract and Geelong meet our trade value then its a deal. This may require Oliver to agree to a new lower value contract with Geelong that makes them comfortable in meeting our trade value be that picks or players. If Geelong are just tyre kickers then no deal. If Oliver is not willing to sacrifice dollars if required after 2 years of dramatically underperforming his contract then no deal. Over to you Connor Sports, Oliver and Geelong. Then we move on.

None of the 3 exactly improve our speed and spread...