Melbourne star Clayton Oliver has blamed a combination of ADHD medication, a lack of sleep from stress and a big first day back at the gym for the shock collapse that saw him rushed to hospital earlier this month.
Only days after the premiership midfielder made headlines over a potential trade due to reported behavioural issues, Oliver was taken by ambulance to Footscray Hospital.
It later emerged Oliver had been at teammate Joel Smith’s home when he collapsed – with Smith revealed as the player who tested positive for cocaine after the Round 23 game against Hawthorn, for which he’s facing a three-month suspension.
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But Oliver has played down the ordeal and says it was just a bad combination of factors.
“It’s been a little bit stressful – it usually doesn’t get to me,” he told 7NEWS on Tuesday.
“I take medication for my ADHD … sort of been light-headed and high heart rate – that sort of affects me a fair bit.
“I do not use illicit drugs”: Goodwin | 00:52
“I sort of fainted that day off the Watt bike (at his first day back at training).
“I was in bed, asleep with Joel. Then got up to get a drink … next thing I was on the ground.”
Oliver hit his head in the fall and was rushed to hospital as a result.
The midfielder’s first interview since his hospital stay came on the same day his coach Simon Goodwin admitted there was some “personal challenges” Oliver needed to overcome.
“It’s a very complex situation that we’ve got going on with Clayton and clearly those challenges have been ongoing for multiple years,” he said on SEN.
“This isn’t something that has just reared its head in recent times. This is something that has been ongoing for our footy club and ongoing for our team for a number of years.
“We’re working incredibly closely with Clayton right now and building the best people around him and care around him to deal with his complex personal issues.”
Oliver back home after hospital visit | 01:23
Goodwin confirmed the side has pushed Oliver to be more professional and to meet the club’s “minimum standards of behaviour”.
“If he can’t come along with our culture, there will be some consequences that come with that and we need to be in a position where we can drive our high-performance culture and Clayton is a big part of that,” he said.
“We were looking to get a real, clear commitment from Clayton that he was prepared to do the work, to buy into the standards and behaviours and minimum things we were looking for and to really want to be a part of the Melbourne footy club.
“In the end he did, he wanted to be a part of where we’re going and we’re going to work with him to do that.”
It has since emerged Demons skipper Max Gawn has invited the star to live with him and his family for the time being as the club rally around Oliver.
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