A pulsating off-season at Melbourne continued in dramatic fashion on Thursday, with the club confirming superstar midfielder Clayton Oliver is welcome to explore his options in the upcoming trade period after being told his role would change significantly under Steven King.
It is believed that Oliver would like to continue playing as an inside midfielder, where he has enjoyed elite levels of success, including a 31.6-disposal and 7.4-clearance per game season in 2021, where the Demons famously broke their 57-year premiership drought.
Oliver's last two seasons have been down years to his standards, however, as he was pushed out of the midfield, attending 70.7% of centre bounces in 2024 and 72.3% in 2025. He failed to tally any Brownlow votes in 2025 as a result, with Melbourne falling to a miserable seven wins and 16 losses.
It has been reported that the Demons are willing to pay as much as $700,000 of Oliver's yearly salary on his monster contract which expires in 2030 in order to engineer a trade for the 28-year-old, which could be to the benefit of a number of interested clubs.
So, which teams should be willing to take the gamble on the controversial talent?
We look at five potential landing spots for Clayton Oliver.
3GWS Giants
It's been reported that GWS have emerged as an early suitor for Oliver, taking the proposition of acquiring his skillset very seriously.
According to 9 News' Tom Morris, the Giants believe Oliver can bolster their clearance game and overall midfield depth, which has lagged behind other contenders in recent seasons, and will seek a meeting with him.
While Tom Green has been dominant, being the only player since Clayton Oliver in 2022 to average at least 29 disposals and eight clearances per game, the Giants as a whole have been poor, ranking 13th in clearances this past season.
Therefore, adding Oliver into the mix would immediately boost this area of the oval in Western Sydney and provide him with guaranteed inside midfield minutes that he desires.
GWS, like Geelong, have demonstrated a capability of keeping players with poor off-field track records focused on their footy, notably providing Jake Stringer with an AFL lifeline last year. It resulted in a supreme bounce back season in 2025 for 'The Package', where he was a key figure in GWS' dominant second half of the season.
Perhaps a complete change of scenery could be of benefit for Oliver too, who will have high expectations placed on him by the stern voice of Adam Kingsley.
