Collingwood prove Clayton Oliver trade interest

Sayantan Guha

Collingwood prove Clayton Oliver trade interest image

Collingwood have officially entered the race for Melbourne midfielder Clayton Oliver, with list boss Justin Leppitsch revealing he’s set to fly to Sydney for talks with the four-time best and fairest winner.

Speaking on AFL Trade Radio, Leppitsch confirmed that discussions with Oliver’s camp are imminent, saying he expects to meet the Demons star in person this week. 

The 28-year-old, who recently met with GWS after being told to explore trade options, is currently in Sydney before heading off for an off-season trip to the United States.

“We’re still doing our work,” Leppitsch told AFL Trade Radio. “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… but yeah, at this point in time I’m going up to meet him.”

MORE: How Jamarra Ugle-Hagan could be traded to Gold Coast

Midfield renewal driving Magpies’ pursuit

Leppitsch didn’t hide Collingwood’s motivation, admitting Oliver could address the club’s biggest on-field concern: an ageing midfield.

“Obviously, it’s a position of need going forward,” he said. “We’ve got an ageing midfield that you guys keep telling us about consistently, and we know that too… we want to slowly develop that part of the field.”

While praising the development of younger options such as Nick Daicos, Ned Long and Beau McCreery, Leppitsch stressed that strengthening the midfield remains Collingwood’s top priority this trade period.

“We’re still at the point of making sure that Clayton wants to choose us and we want to choose him,” he said. “But it (midfield) is the first one we’re looking at — it’s not the only area, but it’s the hardest one to fill and do right.”

Sayantan Guha

Sayantan Guha is a content producer for The Sporting News working across English-language editions.