Clayton Oliver suited up for round zero last week and ended up with a stat line that looked pretty good, even if most of it was accumulated in less than damaging positions and he didn't have a particularly influential night. His interrupted preseason was reflected in his demeanour onfield, sweating profusely in humid conditions. Oliver has never been a sculpted athlete, so his lack of visible conditioning is not that much of a worry, and you can't argue with his work rate. As a fantasy asset, he may prove to be a surprisingly valuable POD this season.
Clayton Oliver suited up for round zero last week and ended up with a stat line that looked pretty good, even if most of it was accumulated in less than damaging positions and he didn't have a particularly influential night. His interrupted preseason was reflected in his demeanour onfield, sweating profusely in humid conditions. Oliver has never been a sculpted athlete, so his lack of visible conditioning is not that much of a worry, and you can't argue with his work rate. As a fantasy asset, he may prove to be a surprisingly valuable POD this season.
Clayton Oliver is one of the favourites for the Brownlow this year on the back of a highly productive first half of the 2022 season, racking up clearances to jet the Demons to first place on the ladder... until last week, when their third loss in a row saw them passed. Melbourne's run of poor form has highlighted some weaknesses in their game, one of which is the fact that Oliver's clearances tend to be rather aimless and turned over a lot. He does get involved after the clearance in possession chains, which makes him a fantasy premium, and his owners don't care.
Clayton Oliver is having his best season as the Demons have lifted around him, benefiting from the advent of Christian Petracca and other mids to support his inside role, and pushing his scoring ceiling into the stratosphere, including his best score in Melbourne's only loss of the campaign to date. His floor is still sub-90, as he posted last week, but his average is comfortably inside the top eight fantasy mids and he looks a lock to stay there as his club cements a top two finish. His price is going to fluctuate slightly from week to week but he's worth the top dollar you will have to pay.
Clayton Oliver is obviously a fine player with a lot of positive skills and fearless courage, but as a fantasy asset he can still go missing when under a tag as he did last week when Matthew de Boer shut him down. The usual strategy to break it is moving forward, which does break the tag but doesn't do much for his own scoring because his terrible goalkicking then comes into play. Today he comes up against Geelong and probably Mark O'Connor, which means he is due either a big bounceback game to prove the doubters wrong, or you should avoid him again.
Clayton Oliver has traditionally been more of a Supercoach special than a Dream Team asset as his one wood is handballing from stoppages, lacking the spread of other premium midfielders. This year his disposal ratio has dropped from over two handballs to one kick when he started five years ago to almost parity, and his SC scoring has zoomed up as a result as he has become a more balanced midfielder. He always had the potential to do this, and he has reached the top of his powers to join the conversation as a top six midfielder going forward for all forms of fantasy.
Oliver is a hardy type
Joint winner of the 2019 Keith Truscott best and fairest award, the second of Clayton Oliver's career, reflected his capacity to continue performing in a struggling side. The All-Australian averaged 30 disposals and over six tackles, ranking third across the competition for contested possessions with his trademark bullocking style bursting through packs. Oliver will be tasked to lead the midfield for the upcoming season, having played in all fixtures over the past three years. One of the best fantasy footballers around for both scoring power and durability with an average of 28 disposals across his career and upside still in the offing, selection in the opening few rounds is warranted.
Oliver in another fine mess
2018 wasn't quite Clayton Oliver's breakout year, as that happened the season before and we already knew he was one of the league's premier inside mids. He was beaten in weight of handballs by Tom Mitchell with his ratio shifting slightly from 8:22 to 11:19, and in contested rate by Patrick Cripps, but that's the echelon he's in. He copped half a dozen hard tags, and failed to score a fantasy ton on all but one occasion with a disposal rate in those games down by six from his average of 30. That's the only piece of the puzzle remaining for Oliver, as otherwise he's already a complete player. Given his elite level of score involvements, it would be tempting to move him forward when he's getting that sort of attention, though when he's still getting 24 touches per game it seems the coaches will let him play through it. He doesn't have the pace off the mark of a Patrick Dangerfield, but he's at his best when bullocking through packs and getting clear for kicks. Draft him early, as he will win you games.
Oliver got some more
Natural progression often means a jump in fantasy scores from year one to two numbering in the double digits, especially for midfielders who peak early. Clayton Oliver took that theory to the extreme by gaining 33 points on his 2016 form, showing exactly zero signs of second-year blues. He still has the most skewed kick-to-handball ratio in the league, 6:13 becoming 8:22 to lead the league in handballs with over half being contested. That ratio is the only knock on Oliver's game, as if he doesn't learn how to spread more to earn marks and kicks on the outside, he's going to be a limited fantasy player who can't join the elite echelon of scorers. What he's got at the moment is still pretty good! Going into his third year there may not be a whole lot of upside, but with Oliver we're already in uncharted territory so there are not a lot of historical parallels. Pick him very early.
