Oliver no stager, says coach

MELBOURNE coach Simon Goodwin has leapt to the defence of young star Clayton Oliver after he was accused of staging.

Oliver was roundly criticised for making too much of the contact he received from West Coast defender Will Schofield on Saturday night.

Schofield was reported for striking Oliver with an elbow but the tribunal found Schofield not guilty and cleared him to play after the Eagles challenged the MRP’s finding.

Goodwin declined to comment on the tribunal’s decision but said 19-year-old Oliver was not a dishonest person.

“One thing I do know about Clayton is he’s a tough customer and he doesn’t lie,” Goodwin said yesterday. “He clearly felt some force.” Oliver denied he was a “faker” post-match, and later took to Twitter to bite back at former Test cricketer Damien Martyn, who implied Oliver had taken a dive.

Oliver also changed his pro- file picture to a photo of Schofield elbowing him in the chin.

Another youngster, Tom Bugg, drew attention last week for using Instagram to suggest he would target Bulldog Jason Johannisen.

“Social media, I’ve lost track of that the last couple of weeks,” Goodwin joked. “We continually talk to our players about social media and the impact it can have, both negatively and positively. I think as players, you learn as you go along through these periods.”