Full name Clayton Oliver Position(s) Midfielder | Height / weight 187 cm / 88 kg Career start 2014 | |
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Date of birth (1997-07-22) 22 July 1997 (age 19) Draft No. 4, 2015 national draft Original team Murray Bushrangers (TAC Cup) | ||
2015 nab afl draft trumps clayton oliver
Clayton Oliver (born 22 July 1997) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A midfielder, 1.87 metres (6.1 ft) tall and weighing 88 kilograms (194 lb), Oliver is known for his capabilities on the inside due to his handball and clearance work. He was a late bloomer in his junior career, where he struggled to play in the TAC Cup in 2014 and he missed selection in the 2015 AFL Under 18 Championships. After playing with the Murray Bushrangers in 2015, his achievements included best and fairest wins for the league and the Murray Bushrangers, which resulted in Melbourne drafting him with the fourth selection in the 2015 AFL draft. He made his debut in the 2016 season, which garnered a Rising Star nomination.
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Early life
Oliver played for the Mooroopna Football Club senior side in the Goulburn Valley Football League in 2014 and he was awarded the Rising Star in the league, in the same season, he struggled to play in the Bendigo Pioneers side in the TAC Cup, playing only three matches. He moved to Mooroopna from Echuca in 2015 to be closer to his school, Goulburn Valley Grammar School in Shepparton for year 12, he was then encouraged to join the Murray Bushrangers for the 2015 TAC Cup season. He missed out on selection for the 2015 AFL Under 18 Championships for Victoria Country after suffering from osteitis pubis, and after a slow start to the TAC Cup season, it was predicted he would be unlikely to be drafted in the 2015 AFL draft. His initial plans were to study radiography at university from 2016 and then earn his AFL draft chance through the Victorian Football League (VFL).
In July, Oliver was selected to play for the Richmond Football Club's VFL side, and after playing two matches for them, his TAC Cup form drastically improved. He was adjudged the best and fairest player in the TAC Cup by winning the Morrish Medal, where he received fourteen votes in the final nine rounds, and finished with fifteen in total, one vote ahead of Eastern Ranges forward, Darcy Crocker and Northern Knights midfielder, Jade Gresham, in addition, he was named on the interchange in the TAC Cup team of the year. He also won the John Byrne Medal as the Murray Bushrangers best and fairest player, finishing eight votes ahead of Murray Waite. After winning the Morrish Medal and John Byrne Medal, he was predicted to be drafted inside the top twenty-five of the draft. He was invited to the national draft combine, where he performed well in the agility test, 20-metre time trial, and three kilometre time trial, which elevated his draft chances to inside the top ten. In the weeks leading to the draft, he was labelled as the "draft bolter" and after the Melbourne Football Club showed strong interest in him, he was predicted to be drafted inside the top five in the days leading to the draft.
AFL career
After the Melbourne Football Club unsuccessfully bid pick three in the 2015 national draft on Callum Mills, Oliver was recruited by them with their first selection and fourth overall. He was predicted by Fox Footy as one of the draftees who would have an immediate impact in the 2016 season, and after playing well in the 2016 NAB Challenge, he made his debut in the two-point win against Greater Western Sydney at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in round one. He was highly praised during his debut match where he recorded twenty-two disposals, with fifteen of them contested, and seven clearances from 58 percent game-time, and it was labelled as one of the best debuts in the previous fifteen years by Fox Sports Australia journalist, Tiarne Swersky.
At the end of the first half, Oliver had seventeen disposals and led the contested possession and clearance count with eleven and five respectively; his first half was described by 1988 Brownlow Medallist, Gerard Healy, as "one of the best debut halves [he'd] seen" and former Essendon player, Scott Lucas, labelled him as the "real deal". Furthermore, his debut match was rewarded with the round nomination for the Rising Star and he became the equal favourite at the time for the Rising Star alongside Sydney defender and eventual winner, Callum Mills. He also received two Brownlow votes, indicating he was judged as the second best player on the ground by the field umpires. He played the next three matches, which saw him praised within the industry along with comparisons to former St Kilda player, Lenny Hayes, before being rested for the ANZAC Day eve match against Richmond at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in round five. He played in the Victorian Football League (VFL) for Melbourne's affiliate team, the Casey Scorpions, the next week before returning to the senior side for the seventy-three point win against Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium in round seven.
Oliver played the next five out of six matches, missing the forty-five point loss against Port Adelaide at TIO Traeger Park in round ten due to a corked quad, before being dropped for the round fifteen match against Adelaide at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. He returned to the AFL side for the twenty-nine point win against Hawthorn at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in round twenty, in which he was praised for his toughness and ability to bounce back from a Cyril Rioli bump in the first quarter, whereby Rioli received a fine from the match review panel. He played the next two matches before missing the last match of the season against Geelong at Simonds Stadium. He then returned to Casey for the VFL finals, including playing in the grand final loss against Footscray at Etihad Stadium. He finished the AFL season with thirteen matches, which resulted in an eighth place finish in the Rising Star and finished twentieth in Melbourne's best and fairest count.