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How to tune into Sport NationJenkins: The club that is a perfect match for Oliver
SEN • October 3rd, 2025 10:38 am
Josh Jenkins is adamant that Collingwood and Clayton Oliver are a perfect match.
The 28-year-old was effectively told to assess his options by Melbourne on Thursday, with the Dees willing to put up more than half of the remaining $7 million he's owed across the next five years of his massive contract.
With the Dees also refusing to guarantee Oliver midfield minutes going forward, Jenkins thinks he doesn’t need to look too far to continue playing his preferred role, and that is in black and white.
As Scott Pendlebury and Steele Sidebottom are on the way out, leaving Nick Daicos and Jordan De Goey as their two on-ball stars, Jenkins thinks that Oliver fits in as an ideal midfield cog.
“I was having a good think about this and he's 28 years of age and he doesn't turn 29 until the middle of next year,” Jenkins said on AFL Trade Radio.
“He fits in the black and white. He fits at Collingwood perfectly.
“Steele Sidebottom played some good games as a midfielder, but he played some games this year where you thought he can't play midfield anymore, and Pendlebury is similar.
“They need a big, strong player around the ball so that Nick Daicos can be a receiver and not necessarily someone who has to go and get the ball.”
While Oliver has been wayward in recent years off the field, with 2025 being the third consecutive off-season that he’s been involved in trade talks, Jenkins thinks that a club like Collingwood, with coach Craig McRae leading the culture, could be the right spot for Oliver.
With Jenkins seeing both an on-field and off-field fit at the Pies, he thinks that Oliver could be their man this trade period.
“They’ll back themselves and Craig McRae will back himself in with their environment and their club.
“He's a cog in your midfield. He's not the firecracker or the heart starter around the ball… but that's the role I like for him at Collingwood.
“Ned Long's trying to develop into that type of player, but if you’ve got him doing his thing around the ball to be a Tom Green-lite, a first-possession player that fights the tackle and gets the ball out to Daicos and these guys who can use it, that’s the role he can play.
“I am set on him at Collingwood. I love the idea because I believe in Craig McRae and what he does and the way he sells it.
“And if he's got Friday night footy, Thursday night footy, big games and finals to look forward to, you might be able to bring out the best in him.”
SEN’s Tom Morris is reporting that GWS has emerged as an early suitor for Oliver, with both the Magpies and Crows set to register their interest.
