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 SENโs The Captainโs Run,ย 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.
โCan I look at selection last night?
โWhy would you think Petracca, Jones, Viney, Oliver and Brayshaw in the same midfield would work? They are the same player. You canโt in modern football have that many inside players who are poor users with the ball and slow, and think that would work.
โClayton Oliver, good luck to him, 23 disposals, gets enough of it. He had no influence on that game of football.
โThe 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.
โHe looks like a frustrated footballer, he burns the ball worse than any midfielder in the game probably, heโs giving away undisciplined free kicks, he got reported. Heโs a shadow of the player he was two years ago.
โWill his career flourish at Melbourne?
โThey can certainly afford to get rid of one of those inside midfielders. Thereโs a stack of them. Brayshawโs name has been linked with other clubs, we know that, but whatโs his value on the open market? Probably not much. Maybe a late second-round pick.
โWhereas Oliver, youโre going to get a first-round pick and heโs 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 doesnโt hit the scoreboard like the best midfielders in the competition do.
โBut Iโm not willing to give up on him. Maybe itโs Carlton to support (Patrick) Cripps. Maybe itโs Essendon to get some size into that midfield.
โIs his best footy at Melbourne? Youโd have to question whether it is.โ
