Should the Dees officially shut down a trade, it will be the second time in as many years that they have initially floated him on the trade market only to hold him to his contract.
Oliver decided after his meetings with the Cats that he wanted to be part of their star-studded midfield in 2025, but both he and Geelong also recognised that any trade would be difficult and complex.
Man of the moment: Melbourne are making a call on Clayton OliverCredit: Getty Images
This masthead reported on Thursday that Geelong were only prepared to pay the full amount, or near the full amount, of Oliver’s nearly $8 million contract if the draft cost in a trade was heavily discounted.
The Demons would otherwise have to stump up some of his contract, which averages close to $1.3 million a year.
Gawn voiced his frustrations about the situation on Triple M radio on Friday morning.
Loading
“My role in this is people ask for my opinion. But I don’t sit in list management, and I don’t want to sit in list management. So, I can share my opinion – which I’m not going to share now – and in fact, I’m getting a little bit annoyed about how many of our opinions are getting out, so that is quite concerning and something we will need to address,” Gawn said.
“I love Clayton the player, but I love Clayton the person a whole lot more. I’m going to be there (for him) no matter what, throughout anything, good or bad. I hope Clayton knows that. Sometimes you can think your captain is involved in a few things… I promise I’m not, I’m there to put my arm around Clayton.”
On Thursday night, Geelong vice captain Tom Stewart confirmed this masthead’s report about his meeting with Oliver, who also met with the Cats’ CEO Steve Hocking.
Loading
Stewart and premiership ruckman Rhys Stanley invited Oliver to Stanley’s farm outside Geelong on Tuesday.
“It was good. Obviously, any sort of talent we can attract to the club is important for us,” Stewart told Seven.
“So, I had the opportunity to meet with him, and it’s an interesting thing for me in my stage of the career, but it went well – he’s a good man.
“It’s not really (about) pitching anything, it’s just sort of enlightening him as to what we’re about at the footy club and the things that we hold dear and the things that we really value.
“There’s a lot of things that need to happen if a potential deal gets done but if we can attract talent to the club, that’s what we’re about.”
Get daily updates on all the AFL trade period action. Sign up for our Real Footy newsletter.
Source Agencies
