Melbourne appears set to be without gun midfielder Clayton Oliver for a period after the Brownlow fancy pulled up lame following the club's defeat to Port Adelaide with a hamstring.
Oliver has been like Greenwich Mean Time for Melbourne across the past six seasons, missing just one game due to injury after sustaining a broken thumb during the Demons' Round 17 loss against Geelong last season.
The 25-year-old underwent scans after touching down at Tullamarine on Saturday, and as reported by News Corp,ย Melbourne's medical staff are expected to provide an update on the severity of the injury on Monday afternoon.
Oliver's injury comes at a precarious point in the Redlegs season, with Simon Goodwin's side set to face Fremantle (H), Carlton (H) and Collingwood (H) before the bye.
Melbourne is also scheduled to do battle with Geelong in the week following its bye.
Currently at 7-3, Goodwin's legion holds fourth spot by percentage alone over Ross Lyon's Saints. But with the men from Moorabbin tasked with clashes against Hawthorn, Sydney, Richmond and Brisbane within the same window, those on the ladder's upper rungs could soon be switching.
Punters will also be sweating on the outcome of Oliver's scans, with the redhead currently seen as third-favourite with the bookies to take home this year's Brownlow Medal - only Collingwood's Nick Daicos and star Dog Marcus Bontempelli have proven more popular thus far.
Throughout his first seven seasons as a Demon, Oliver accrued 110 Brownlow votes from his 147 AFL appearances made before entering 2023.
