Demons superstar Clayton Oliver and premiership coach Simon Goodwin have both addressed repugnant rumours surroudning the Melbourne midfielder.
Oliver was absent for Melbourne's defeat to Geelong at GMHBA Stadium on Thursday night, as he continues to battle an ailing hamstring, as well as a foot infection for which he recently had to be admitted to hospital.
Speaking to the media post-game, Goodwin was detailed in his response when quizzed about Oliver's progress and the rumours surrounding him.
"There's a lot been spoken about Clayton in the last 48 hours and a lot of it's incorrect," started Goodwin.
"Clayton [suffered] a hamstring strain against Port Adelaide, he then got an infected foot, spent six nights in hospital, and as he's come back into training in the last eight days his hamstring's (become) tight.
"He'll have scans tomorrow, so anyone who thinks they know better than that, come and walk into our environment and find out, he's off for a hamstring scan tomorrow, we're hoping it's okay and he can continue to progress, he's training to a certain level but he's not quite there yet.
"That's not the type of player that you risk, and we're going to make sure he's fully fit and ready to go, hopefully, the scan tomorrow comes back all clear, but for all the other rubbish that's out there, it's just garbage, so I hope we can put that one to bed."
Asked for his opinion on those who would openly circulate unsubstantiated rumours about a player, Goodwin was briefer, simply attributing it to the sporting media industry.
"It's the industry we're in, we're working with our player about getting back to full fitness, and what people want to believe and what they think's right, the facts are he's got a hamstring and we're trying to work him back to full fitness," Goodwin said.
"He spent five nights in hospital on an IV drip for a pretty serious infection, and as I said he's still got that tight hamstring, so we're going to make sure he's right."
On Friday evening Oliver spoke withย 7 News,ย who had reporter Mitch Cleary also caught up in the rumour after a doctored tweet from Cleary circled on social media.
Oliver said while the sinister accusations didn't affect him significantly, he was disappointed with what had transpired.
"It's a bit disappointing. It probably doesn't affect me too much, I'm pretty relaxed with all that sort of stuff,โ Oliver told 7 News.
"We're building such a great culture and a really good environment and it's not something we want to be associated with.
"It's a bit disappointing someone's gone along with that."
Cleary took to Twitter on Friday to address the circling photoshopped image.
"For the record - there is a fake tweet, photoshopped to mimic my account circulating about Clayton Oliver," Cleary wrote.
"It has never appeared on my Twitter account because it has nothing to do with me. I had no knowledge of it until I was contacted by Melbourne FC.
"7 News has since gone out of its way to report the club's very strong denials in a bid to clear up this wild speculation."
The Demons play the Giants in a 'home' game in the Northern Territory in Round 16, as they look to get back to winning ways amid their push for another flag.
