Collingwood coach Craig McRae may miss out on Melbourne midfielder Clayton Oliver with GWS now reportedly favoured to land the star with talks ‘more advanced’ with the Sydney-based club. Oliver was handed a brutal blow when new Melbourne coach Steven King made the swift call to allow the 28-year-old to explore his options at rival AFL clubs.
This prompted the star to immediately meet with GWS coach Adam Kingsley on a boat after being told he could find a new home. But the Giants are not the only club interested in the midfield dynamo.
Collingwood coach Craig McRae (pictured right) may miss out on Melbourne star Clayton Oliver with GWS now reportedly favoured to land the star. (Images: Getty Images)
Collingwood list boss Justin Leppitsch admitted the club are also keen on meeting the 28-year-old before he makes a decision.“We’re still doing our work,” Leppitsch told AFL Trade Radio this week.
“I’ll find out this afternoon, when that meeting is going ahead, when I ring Nick (Gieschen) this afternoon. He might be touring the Giants’ facilities potentially today, I’m not sure, but I’ll find out what the next move is. Yeah, at this point in time (I’m going up to meet him), unless he signs a contract by then, so that’s the plan.”
While Collingwood have entered the race, it appears GWS are early frontrunners for the star’s signature. Speaking on Channel 7, Mitch Cleary claimed the Giants are leading the race for Oliver with a potential move away from Melbourne piquing the midfielder’s interest.
“The Giants interest is much more advanced. In fact, he has met with them twice. I think he likes the idea of living in Sydney, getting outside of the Melbourne bubble,” Cleary said on The Agenda Setters. Oliver has come to terms with leaving his former club having taken a little swipe at them when asked what he liked about Collingwood. “What do I like about them? I like them better than Melbourne, that’s for sure,” he said to Channel 7 News.
Garry Lyon predicts Clayton Oliver to shine
The update could come as a blow to Magpies coach McRae as they look to improve their midfield for 2026. And Melbourne great Garry Lyon feels Oliver will thrive wherever he ends up with the four-time club Best and Fairest winner a great signing.
“I don’t think there’d be too many secrets about where Clayton has been and what he’s been up to,” Lyon said on SEN Radio. “He had his challenges, that was well-documented. All I heard last year was that he was back and in really consistent behaviours and that wasn’t an issue.
“A very highly-motivated Clayton Oliver out there at the moment. Get him in the right environment and he could be of very, very good value.”
Clayton Oliver (pictured) is tipped to select GWS as his next AFL destination.
RELATED:
Collingwood looking to improve midfield for 2026
Leppitsch said the club will continue to pursue Oliver, but even if they miss out the midfield was an area they were looking to improve in 2026. The Collingwood midfield is an ageing group with Scott Pendlebury, Steele Sidebottom and Tom Mitchell all over the age of 30. And Kane Cornes claimed Collingwood went all in to win the 2025 premiership, but it could impact them going forward.
Overall, the Pies comfortably have the oldest roster in the AFL with an average age of 28.7. And Leppitsch is aware the club needs to reinforce the midfield with some younger legs.
“We should know that the next day or two, but, again, he might choose the Giants, and we might be out of the race or vice versa,” he added about Oliver on AFL Trade Radio. “But it (midfield) is the first one we’re looking at. I guess the end of our season finished quite simply with the clearance work and field position Brisbane put on us. We just found out in the important time of year that we didn’t have that. So, it’s the first area we’ll look at, it’s not the only area, but it’s the hardest one to fill and do right.”