Melbourne’s Clayton Oliver and Carlton’s Zac Williams return in VFL practice matches ahead of AFL season

A few trademark burts from the middle of the ground and positive body language painted another promising picture for Melbourne gun Clayton Oliver as he tries to prove himself for opening round selection.

Oliver missed much of the club’s pre-season as he spent time away to deal with personal issues but trained on his own in a bid to ensure he’s as close to physically ready as possible before the season begins next week.

As part of a club plan to set Oliver up for a strong 2024 season, he played with the club’s VFL side in an early morning clash with Carlton’s VFL team at Ikon Park on Wednesday, with the Demons running out convincing 29-point winners.

Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin said Oliver was physically ready to play in Opening Round but a decision would be made in the next week whether it is best for his year as a whole to rush him back for the first game.

“We just wanted to get through today and we’ll go away and discuss as a footy club,” Goodwin told Fox Footy.

“We want to set him up for the year and make sure he is ready to hit the year fully ready to go and we will make a decision throughout the week.”

Goodwin said the four-time best-and-fairest winner was “performing really strongly” on the training track and “training really hard”.

It marked Oliver’s second hitout with the VFL team, having also played against Richmond 10 days ago, and the four-time club best and fairest got through unscathed.

Having already rejoined the main training group, the hitout marked another huge step for Oliver in his bid for early season selection.

Melbourne football boss Alan Richardson said all of Oliver’s recent progress had been positive.

“Clayton has been tracking really well, which, first and foremost, is great to see,” Richardson said.

“He’s been working on building his fitness back up but also getting himself up to speed on game plan structures and specifics.

“We want to set Clayton up for a really strong and successful season so will continue to work accordingly to give him the best opportunity to achieve this.”

Carlton’s Zac Williams also produced a positive first outing in his comeback from an ACL injury he suffered on the eve of the 2023 season playing managed minutes for the Blues.

Williams hasn’t played at AFL level since round 23 of the 2022 season, during which he only played nine games after rupturing his achilles tendon early in the season.

“It was good to be out there,” Williams said.

“First game in 18 months .. I only played 65 minutes but it was good to be out there. I loved it.”