Key posts
Demons list boss struggles with Oliver questions
By Marc McGowan
Melbourne’s never-ending year of drama left list boss Tim Lamb unsure whether the under-siege Demons remain an attractive option for prospective recruits and unable to answer key questions about their handling of the Clayton Oliver trade saga.
In a fiery and at-times-awkward press conference, Lamb shut down the possibility of the star midfielder playing elsewhere next year while facing a barrage of questions on the opening day of trade period.
That followed interim club president and former captain Brad Green declaring at last week’s best-and-fairest function that Oliver would be a Demon next year.
Oliver met with Geelong last week after word spread that Melbourne chief executive Gary Pert had asked opposition clubs whether there was any interest in the four-time club champion. However, Lamb said it was “inaccurate” to suggest they had “shopped” him around.
Giants weigh up a play for Stringer
Greater Western Sydney will have to stump up a multi-year offer to secure contracted Bombers forward Jake Stringer despite looming as the only realistic suitor for the veteran goalkicker.
Stringer has met with Giants officials as they consider whether to take on the talented 30-year-old, who kicked 42 goals in 2024 and would need to offer him at least a two-year deal to make relocating viable.
Opinion: Greg Baum on the Oliver situation
OPINION: “It’s called a trade window, but it’s not really a window. It’s an opening with a blind pulled down over it, beneath which everyone inside keeps peeping out, and everyone outside keeps watching out for shadows. And so we end up with the Clayton Oliver debacle.”
Read more from GREG BAUM
Podcast: The state of play
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Hello and welcome to our live and rolling coverage of the AFL trade period.
