Clayton Oliver's long-term manager, Nick Gieschen, has revealed why his client decided to stay on with Melbourne after week of heavy scrutiny, as well as the teams chasing the midfielder ahead of the trade period,

On Monday, Oliver was raised as a shock trade target after reports from SEN and AFL Mediaย alike claimed the off-field behaviour of the four-time best and fairest left plenty to be desired.

Melbourne confirmed these reports on Friday, also stating that while the club was more than happy to keep the on-baller on their books, Oliver had to lift standards relating to preperation and how he interacted with club employees.

In an exclusive interview with AFL Media's Callum Twomey, Gieschen claimed that while there was genuine trade interest in his client from Adelaide, Essendon, Geelong, St Kilda and Sydney, Oliver's love for the red and the blue proved strong enough to see him to stay.
"It's been confronting, but out of all of this it's an opportunity to grow. Off the back of a lot of the hard, honest, robust conversations it's given him a chance to get some stuff off his chest and some time to heal," Gieschen toldย Twomey.

"He very much loves the Melbourne Football Club, it's like his family. He's grown up there, he feels very strongly about the footy club and the players and coaches, and sometimes families fight but he's got enormous respect for 'Goody' and as much as it's been challenging I don't think he can see himself playing under another coach because of all the support he's had from the footy club."

Gieschen also revealed that a Thursday night dinner hosted at head coach Simon Goodwin's house provided the perfect platform for the gun midfielder to speak openly.

Melbourne's footy boss Alan Richardson was also in attendence for what proved to be a pivotal meeting in helping to reinstate order at Demonland.

And while the intense speculation of the past week was put to bed ahead of the club's best and fairest count on Friday, Gieschen claimed his star client still had "some work to do" to once again meet Melbourne's internal standards.

"He's got some work to do, he knows he does, and he is trying and Melbourne has been amazing. Clayton's had as much support as any player could โ€“ he's so grateful of the support of Melbourne, the players showed great care, he's got a great love for Melbourne. He's really excited for the future," Gieschen said in finality.

Gieschen - a leading pillar in Paul Connor's Connors Sports Management group - played a leading hand in seeing Melbourne secure Oliver's signature on a seven-year deal in June of 2022.

Oliver remains contracted to the Redlegs until the cessation of the 2023 season.

 

- Intro Melbourne response (hyperlink)

- Intro Gieschan and trade interest

- Quotes

- Run rest of sheet