Dwayne Russell is certain there’s a disconnect between Clayton Oliver and Melbourne after having an extended chat with the star midfielder on Grand Final morning.
Reports emerged on Tuesday on AFL Trade Radio that clubs were considering a bold play to prise the 26-year-old out of Melbourne and Russell wasn’t shocked at that news following his chat with Oliver.
Russell says he didn’t want to reveal anything of the private chat he had with the midfielder but now that reports are emerging, he was happy to comment on the interaction.
After speaking to the midfielder for an hour, Russell believes the disconnect can only be solved via a trade or by Melbourne giving Oliver a “massive hug”.
“I was actually with Clayton Oliver Grand Final morning for an hour and had a good chat with him,” Russell said on SEN Mornings.
“Much of what he told me was obviously private. I've known for days and not mentioned it on my show because I didn't want to start a wildfire off the back of a one-hour chat at a Grand Final lunch.
“But the wildfire is out now, I can't say every reporter reporting it including you (Sam Edmund) is right because I don't know, but there is a disconnect there at the moment.
“Melbourne either needs to give Clayton Oliver a massive hug, or they need to trade him, one of the two.
“That's the way I read the situation from being with Clayton Grand Final morning.
“That's really the information that I've got.”
While Russell didn’t go into specifics, he is pretty certain the disconnect that’s being reported exists.
He believes if Melbourne can’t quickly mend the relationship, that accepting a trade may be the only real option at their disposal.
“I just think he needs a giant hug, that’s the way I see it, that's my reading of it,” Russell said.
“I don't know what they're doing to connect again with Clayton, but it just seemed like he was a little disconnected from his club to the point that whatever they can do they need to do right now.
“I don't know how big a disconnect it is, whether it's broken to the point that it's irreparable or whether it's an easy repair, that's the hard part from just an hour of conversation.
“You can't really ascertain how big a disconnect there was.
“I think there is a lot of people reporting a disconnect and that's probably what I feel from that chat as well.
“If they can't fix what's going on at the moment, then trading is probably the only other option.”
Oliver is currently contracted until the end of the 2030 season after signing a massive extension last season.