Demons intrigue grows amid curious Clayton Oliver training moment

Melbourne midfielder Clayton Oliver is most likely going to have to wait one more week to make his AFL return, leaving the training track early on Wednesday morning. Oliver was seen having an animated exchange with a Demons trainer at one point, as he looks set to miss a seventh week of footy.

Oliver was first forced to miss time due to an injured hamstring, with his return further delayed by an infected blister that required him to be in hospital for several days. Prior to the training session, Demons coach Simon Goodwin said Oliver had 'one session' he needed to get through before being cleared for a return, a prospect that now appears unlikely.

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A return for the prolific midfielder would have been helpful for Saturday's crucial clash against St Kilda, with a top four spot on the line. The Demons have also lost leading goalkicker Bailey Fritsch to injury, a telling loss after two consecutive weeks of poor returns in front of goal.

Channel 7's Mitch Cleary reported that Oliver's frustrations appeared to be directed at Demons head of strength and conditioning, Selwyn Griffith. He said Oliver was clearly 'frustrated' by what was happening.

Meanwhile, Goodwin has conceded the Demons need to start capitalising more on their forward 50 entries, after kicking a combined 13 goals and 30 behinds in their last two games, both losses. While their 5.15 against GWS last weekend could in part be excused by the overly greasy conditions, Goodwin said more time than usual has been allocated to goalkicking drills.

“If you can look outside right now, and this is prior to training, we’ve got 30 blokes out there having shots at goal, running around poles,” he said at training. “We’ve given more minutes to goal kicking than ever before in the history of our footy club.

“(Assistant coach Mark Williams) is driving a really big program for us … our high performance team are very supportive of how much goalkicking we do.”

Leading goalkicker to miss seven weeks for Demons

Fritsch underwent surgery on Tuesday and Goodwin is hoping the 26-year-old can return around finals time. Young key forward Jacob van Rooyen will almost certainly be back to face the Saints following his surprise axing to the VFL last weekend.

Van Rooyen responded to being dropped in style, booting four goals in Casey's VFL smashing of GWS. The 2021 premiers' forward line has come under intense criticism, something Goodwin accepts is fair.

"We've had five weeks where we've kicked no more than eight goals so we don't live under a rock and think it's not an issue," Goodwin said on Wednesday. "We want to be a team that scores more on the back of some of the unbelievable work we're doing defensively and in our contest work.

"At some stage, it's going to turn and we're going to start to get bang for buck."

Fritsch hurt his left foot in an early marking contest in the Demons' loss to GWS on Sunday. The star forward, who has booted 29 goals this season, will miss seven-to-eight weeks in a further blow to the Dees' misfiring attack.

"He had a little bit of a roll of his ankle and that has resulted in a fracture in his foot," club doctor Laura Lallenec told Melbourne's website. "He actually underwent surgery this morning and that's gone really well.

"We're expecting a return to play of approximately seven to eight weeks at this stage, but we'll see how he goes."

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