Clayton Oliver emerged unscathed after making a return to the field in Melbourne’s scratch match against Richmond, but he’s not guaranteed a Round 1 berth on that performance.
The three-time All-Australian played in three of the seven periods on Sunday at Casey Fields, predominantly alongside VFL Demons.
It came after an off-season where Oliver was a constant headline. He lost his licence after being rushed to hospital, faced court for driving on a suspended licence and was given a large wake-up call when put on the trade table by Melbourne.
Oliver has only been in full training from January 31, spending the vast majority of the pre-season away from the club.
But he was a class above the VFL players, as noted by assistant coach Troy Chaplin.
THE KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM MELBOURNE V RICHMOND PRACTICE MATCH
“It’s great for Clayton, he’s been back in the program for a couple of weeks now, he’s been through a fair bit over this summer so for him, being able to get through three quarters… You could see the class he does bring, so we’re excited to have him back in the program now,” Chaplin said.
“Really looking forward to the next few weeks and hopefully him playing some good footy for the rest of the season.
“He’ll probably play some more minutes against Carlton (in Melbourne's second practice game), that process will be a club process and an AFL one as well, Goody (Simon Goodwin) and Richo (Alan Richardson) will work closely with the AFL and what that looks like… he doesn’t look like he has missed a beat. He has trained extremely hard when he’s been away from the group, so he has put himself in a good position to perform.”
Chaplin added Oliver had missed several educational elements over the pre-season, but a Round 0 appearance wasn’t out of the question.
“There’s some other things he has to tick off that the club will work really closely with him on, but for him, it’s just … about getting back out there and building good rapport with his teammates,” he said.
Melbourne faces Carlton on February 28 at Ikon Park before Simon Goodwin’s men open the season against Sydney on March 7.
Oliver, 26, had played at least 17 games in every year since his first season until 2023, where a hamstring injury limited him to 13 appearances.
Melbourne publicly challenged Oliver to improve his standards around the club when eventually taking the midfield superstar off the trade table prior to the club’s best and fairest.
Oliver has a contract with Melbourne until 2030.