Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes has declared that Melbourne's midfield needs to be shaken up and Clayton Oliver should be put on the trade block.

The Demons were soundly beaten to the tune of 51 points by Port Adelaide on Thursday night, and Cornes has questioned whether this team can achieve the ultimate success with a one-paced midfield.

Speaking on SEN’s The Captain’s Run, Cornes named the Demons who he believes are too similar, naming Oliver in particular as the one who could do with a change of scenery.

“Can I look at selection last night?

“Why would you think Petracca, Jones, Viney, Oliver and Brayshaw in the same midfield would work? They are the same player. You can’t in modern football have that many inside players who are poor users with the ball and slow, and think that would work.

“Clayton Oliver, good luck to him, 23 disposals, gets enough of it. He had no influence on that game of football.

“The way that they have put their list together with those midfielders, one of them has to go. You would think that Oliver is the one with the most currency and the one that Melbourne could get the most out of.

“He looks like a frustrated footballer, he burns the ball worse than any midfielder in the game probably, he’s giving away undisciplined free kicks, he got reported. He’s a shadow of the player he was two years ago.

“Will his career flourish at Melbourne?

“They can certainly afford to get rid of one of those inside midfielders. There’s a stack of them. Brayshaw’s name has been linked with other clubs, we know that, but what’s his value on the open market? Probably not much. Maybe a late second-round pick.

“Whereas Oliver, you’re going to get a first-round pick and he’s just not the footballer, for whatever reason, that we know he was two years ago. Frustrated, turns it over, low metres gained, handball happy and doesn’t hit the scoreboard like the best midfielders in the competition do.

“But I’m not willing to give up on him. Maybe it’s Carlton to support (Patrick) Cripps. Maybe it’s Essendon to get some size into that midfield.

“Is his best footy at Melbourne? You’d have to question whether it is.”