
Melbourne accused of ‘favourable treatment' to Clayton Olvier and Christian Petracca at expense of group
That's the view of Channel 7 commentators Kane Cornes and Nick Riewoldt, who were both in agreeance on The Agenda Setters.
Petracca and Oliver were both subjected to intense trade speculation at the end of last season before ultimately staying with the club.
The Demons rebuilt the fractured relationships by focusing on spreading the love throughout the pre-season, a message that coach Simon Goodwin has continued to preach throughout the year.
'I've never seen a club and a coach pander to two players like Melbourne have done from the start of the year,' Cornes said on The Agenda Setters.
'I understand all the questions are directed to Simon Goodwin about Petracca and Oliver.
'You know the way you answer that? 'There's 44 players on our list, not two, and I've spoken a lot about how much we rate and respect Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver, but this is a team game'.
'I've never ever seen Chris Scott do that and speak about Bailey Smith repeatedly since day one of pre-season to the point where he is pumping him up for a tagging role.
'It's just amazing how much they have tried to pump these two guys up from day one. It's love and it's all this. What about the other players in the side? What about the players that give absolutely everything?'
Oliver missed the Round 8 win over West Coast due to personal issues, but returned to the field against Hawthorn in a surprise tagging role.
The gun midfielder, who signed a massive contract until 2030, has failed to reach the heights that took him to four best and fairest awards, three All-Australians and two AFLCA Player of the Year Awards.
'Their investment for the output, it's just not a good return on your investment of $1.3m. If he's not getting All-Australian every two out of three years, if he's not getting 30 and 10 clearances,' Cornes continued.
Host Craig Hutchison interjected, saying, 'the role of the day required him to do that (tagging).'
But Cornes wasn't having it.
'I understand but that's once again pandering to him,' he said.
'If he's not in the side to be a 10-clearance per game, 30-possession player, he goes back to the VFL and finds the footy 40 times to get himself back in the ball.
'That's what you would do if he's Tom Sparrow. If that's Tom Sparrow out of form, he goes back to the VFL, gets himself 30 and comes back to the team in great form. They are just finding a way to cover once again for Clayton Oliver.'
Fellow panellist Caroline Wilson was 'shocked' by Cornes' take, given Oliver's much-publicised mental health issues.
'I'm shocked by that view. I'm shocked,' she said.
'But in the context of everything Clayton Oliver has been through, and he didn't play a week ago ... it's not a football issue.
'It's a much wider issue than a football issue and Simon Goodwin is trying something different.
'He's not going to do it for the rest of the year, or maybe he will. If he thinks this is a good thing for Clayton Oliver — he knows Clayton Oliver's problems more than you do.'
Riewoldt said that it wasn't about that, it was about the praising of Oliver.
'I think it's more the gushing over the role. OK so you went out and played a role. I think it's the gushing about it,' he said.
'I understand where Clayton's coming from. I understand that. He made the mature decision to take the week off because he was struggling, applaud that absolutely.
'But from a pure football perspective, yes more at play, this is an issue for Melbourne and this is going to be an issue for them ongoing if he's not able to transcend being a tagger.'
The St Kilda champion added that the 'pandering' might be creating a negative environment at the club.
'The way they've pandered to Petracca and Oliver, a player who shopped himself around and wanted to get out, and a player who they were also trying to shop,' he said.
'I think the overcorrection has meant that there's been a ripple through the rest of the group, these guys are put up on a pedestal and these players are given favourable treatment at the expense of the group.
'It's very tough to be in an environment like that and then preach team collectiveness, equal playing field, integrity of selection, all of those things at the same time.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


7NEWS
11 minutes ago
- 7NEWS
Aussie Ben O'Connor celebrates amazing Stage 18 victory in Tour de France: ‘Proud of myself'
Ben O'Connor, who has long considered the Tour de France a relentless and unforgiving challenge, roared back on Thursday with a stunning Stage 18 victory in the Alps to finally bury memories of all the crashes he has suffered in recent years. 'It's a pretty cruel race,' the 29-year-old said after crossing the line alone at the Col de la Loze. 'I've just found myself on the deck in the first two days a few times, but not really for my own fault. Stage one here, it wasn't my fault – I was just taken out,' the Jayco AlUla rider said. 'In Copenhagen (in 2022), same thing, sprint finish, crash in front of me, nowhere to go. And then you had the crash in 2021 (when a fan holding a cardboard sign caused a massive pile up). So yeah, the first couple days really haven't treated me well at all in this race before.' O'Connor, who won a stage to Tignes and finished fourth overall in 2021, has battled to replicate those highs. 'Getting it done today means a lot to me,' he said. 'I'm very proud of myself and very proud of the team.' The win came after a bold attack from the bottom of the valley before the final climb, a plan he hatched with his team's sports director Matthew Hayman. 'He told me you've got nothing to lose,' O'Connor said. 'If you're going to win, you have to go from the bottom of the valley ... and that's what happened. On the Col de la Loze, it was pretty straightforward – you either had it or you didn't.' O'Connor switched from French squad AG2R Citroen to Australian outfit Jayco AlUla this season, a move he said brought a fresh sense of belonging. 'It's about time I finally got a big result on the board being an Aussie rider on an Aussie team,' he said. Asked whether the stage victory mattered more than a top-10 finish in Paris, O'Connor was emphatic. 'Yes, definitely. Getting your hands up in the air is the most enjoyable thing,' he said. 'It's only when you complete a GC and you've done a perfect race yourself and you're proud of every single day that you've tapped it out and you've ticked the boxes, then that gives you a different kind of satisfaction.'


SBS Australia
17 minutes ago
- SBS Australia
Tour de France Stage 18: Australian Ben O'Connor climbs to 'brutal' Alpine win
Ben O'Connor won stage 18 of the Tour de France with a world-class climb over three Alpine mountains on Thursday as defending champion Tadej Pogacar tightened his grip on the yellow jersey. Australian O'Connor, 29, took off alone 15km from the finish and navigated the mountain mist to win 1 minute and 45 seconds ahead of Pogacar atop the Col de la Loze. Vingegaard crossed the line in third place, nine seconds behind the Slovenian. "It was brutal, I've never lived anything so hard. The team did well and we had a good plan, but I couldn't take any time off Tadej," said Vingegaard. Pogacar now holds a 4-minute 26-second lead over the Dane in the general classification with three days to go before the finish in Paris. There are just three stages remaining of the 2025 Tour de France. Source: AAP / Christophe Petit Tesson / EPA Starting the day with a deficit of 4 minutes and 15 seconds, Vingegaard had attacked 71km out. "Our tactics fell apart when they attacked so soon," said Pogacar, explaining he simply tracked his rival on instinct. Pogacar eventually dropped the Dane near the finish line to gain another 11 seconds on the Team Visma rider who won the 2022 and 2023 Tour de France. O'Connor, from the Jayco-Alula team, said he was relieved to triumph again four years after his success in the Alps at Tignes. "Putting your hands in the air is an extraordinary thing. It was about time for me being an Aussie rider in an Aussie team," said a beaming O'Connor, who joined Jayco in January. "I had to go from the bottom of the valley before the last climb. It was the only way to beat them. Pogacar said O'Connor had put in a great ride. "Congrats to Ben. How he rode today, that's his victory." Three days remain Team UAE's Pogacar is now on the cusp of a fourth Tour de France title, after reversing the roles and sitting on Vingegaard's wheel, wasting little energy. He remained vigilant however. "It's not over, there's three days left. It's so long this three weeks thing. You get annoyed with everybody by the third week. You need good legs and good luck and only then is it okay," added Pogacar. German breakout star Florian Lipowitz wilted near the end in his bid for both third place and the white jersey awarded to the best young rider. The 22-year-old British rider Oscar Onley closed to within 22 seconds. Both riders are making their Tour de France debut. The race ends Sunday in Paris with the finish line at the Champs-Élysées after three climbs to the Sacre Coeur Basilica along the cobbled lanes of Montmartre. The place to watch the 2025 Tour de France — live, free and exclusive — plus the fourth edition of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift is right here on the SBS On Demand Hub .

News.com.au
40 minutes ago
- News.com.au
One lucky punter takes home entire $30m jackpot in Thursday night Powerball
One lucky Australian has woken up a multi-millionaire after taking home the entire Division One prize of $30m in last night's Powerball. Last night's winning numbers for Draw 1523 were 2, 25, 6, 4, 31, 34, 19 with the Powerball number 20. The lucky ticket holder, who was not a Tatts member and is yet to claim their winning ticket, won the entire Division One prize of $30,628,398.22. There were 21 Division Two winners, who will each take home $26,947.75, and 56 Division Three winners, who won $12,563.50 each. Thursday night also saw 1085 Australians taking home the Division Four prize of $563.85, while 2502 lucky punters have won $183.40. Last month, one lucky punter won the $100m Powerball jackpot, but is still yet to claim their winnings. The elusive winner of the June draw, who bought their ticket a Bondi Junction Newsagency, was also not a Tatts member and therefore their identity will remain a mystery until they come forward with their winning ticket. The Lott spokesman Matt Hart said winners from NSW have six years to claim their prize. 'We've had division one winners come forward months and even years after the winning numbers were drawn to claim their prizes,' he said. 'In most cases, these winners have told us the winning ticket was hiding in plain sight the whole time – in their wallet or purse, in the car console or on the fridge door.'