AFL news: Melbourne Demons Clayton Oliver petulant act uncovered

Demons star Clayton Oliver has been accused of a bizarre act of messing with car windscreen wipers.

The claim against Oliver from an incident last year has been uncovered while the Melbourne Football Club has been left reeling by Joel Smith’s provisional suspension for testing positive to an illicit drug.

The club has been under fire for a series of suggestions it has a culture problem surrounding the behaviour of players and staff away from the football field.

The Herald Sun on Friday first reported the bizarre claim made against Oliver relates to an off-season training session in Yarra Park, next to the MCG, where he has been accused of bending windscreen wipers on parked cars in a side street.

The News Corp report shows one of Oliver’s teammates was left to apologise to one resident after the four-time best and fairest winner was confronted.

It is just one of many behavioural issues to have emerged about the club following its 2021 premiership season.

Oliver has had a tumultuous month after he was linked with a bombshell trade to the Adelaide Crows.

The 26-year-old has made a commitment to the Demons and chief executive Gary pert last week said the club will support Oliver through the “personal circumstances” he had been dealing with in 2023 that led to speculation about his future.

Oliver is contracted until 2030 and is one of the club’s highest-paid players and immediately became the subject of interest from several clubs when speculation about his future at Melbourne intensified.

According to reports, the Demons had earlier given Oliver an “ultimatum” that he would be shown the door if his behaviour off the field did not improve.

Oliver had recently moved in with Demons captain Max Gawn and his wife.

Oliver was in attendance at Melbourne’s best and fairest awards night earlier this month where several teammates admitted there had been some concerns over Oliver throughout the season.

“Obviously we‘ve had some challenges with Claz (Oliver) this year,” co-captain Jack Viney told Nine News.

“But we‘re really passionate about putting our arms around him and supporting him and we want him a part of this football club.

“He‘s one hell of a player and a much loved player in the team.”

Pert’s letter to club members earlier this month regarding Oliver’s future was also strongly worded.

“The Club has been aware of and supporting Clayton with his personal circumstances for some time and is committed to continuing to do so,” he said.

“While Club leaders focus on the care and support Clayton needs, we also have a responsibility to uphold our strong Club culture for the benefit of all our players and staff. We have a responsibility to ensure that everyone within the Club is committed to meeting the expected behavioural standards of a player within an AFL high performance environment.

“Clayton understands what is expected of him as a professional athlete, as well as the standards and behaviours a Melbourne person is expected to uphold.”

Oliver was last week taken to hospital as a result of a “medical episode”, the club announced.

The issue is reported to have been a head injury as a result of a seizure.

Meanwhile, football greats Kane Cornes and Dermott Brereton have blasted the football club over the behaviour of Smith.

The league has stated the sample that recorded a positive test was taken after Smith played in the Demons’ Round 23 game against Hawthorn.

Cornes on Friday morning made several staggering comments about the suggestion cocaine had entered Smith’s system just days before the match.

The AFL earlier confirmed a Sport Integrity Australia test “asserted that a sample provided by Smith during an In-Competition doping control test on 20 August 2023 returned an Adverse Analytical Finding for the presence of Cocaine and its metabolite Benzoylecgonine being a Prohibited Substance under the Code”.

Cornes and Brereton could not believe the timeline of the incident when speaking on SEN Breakfast.

“This one’s alarming,” Cornes said.

“A Sunday game. You google how long cocaine stays in your system for a urine test, it’s 3-4 days. What is he doing on Wednesday night or Thursday night? And how is the culture at Melbourne?

He went on to say: “With everything else that is going on, what is happening at the Melbourne footy club and across the competition as a whole?”

“Since the premiership I don’t know if their culture has been that strong,” Cornes said.

“You can’t continue to put your head in the sand. And then issues like this now come to the surface. There’s something going on at Melbourne and it’s something Melbourne fans wouldn’t be that proud of I wouldn’t have thought.

“You could argue in some way that this has cost them a premiership and Melbourne fans are devastated. I would be so angry if I was a Melbourne supporter.”

— You can read the full details of the report into Melbourne’s culture crisis in The Herald Sun

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