'Taking a break ... to deal with some issues': Clayton Oliver leaves ...

“The club has been aware of and supporting Clayton with his personal circumstances for some time and is committed to continuing to do so,” Pert said.

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“While club leaders focus on the care and support Clayton needs, we also have a responsibility to uphold our strong club culture for the benefit of all our players and staff.”

Oliver suffered a seizure in October that saw him attend hospital. He also had a minor knee procedure in the off-season which has seen him on a modified training program.

Oliver is due to face Magistrates Court in January for driving while his licence was suspended due to medical advice after his seizure.

Demons skipper Max Gawn arrived at Lorne on Wednesday after the birth of his second child, Louis, while forward Jake Melksham ran for the first time after undergoing a knee reconstruction at the end of the home-and-away season and missing the finals.

Ten years after joining a rebuilding St Kilda as highly rated pick No.3 pick in the 2013 national draft, Jack Billings has lobbed at a club which sees him as worth a punt.

He is not expected to be the difference between Melbourne exiting the finals after straight sets and winning a flag, but he could, if all goes well, provide them with a link that was missing at the business end.

Although he has struggled to show those traits often enough in the past injury-riddled season, Billings showed he can run and hit a target inside 50 during most of his 155 games at the Saints.

It was a skill sorely missing from the Demons in their two finals when they scored 16 goals from 122 inside 50s and lost the two games by a combined total of nine points.

But Billings, who is getting married on Friday, has arrived without making any grand statements about what he can add to the team that has endured a tumultuous off-season.

Former Saint and new Demon Jack Billings at the club’s training camp in Lorne.Credit: Joe Armao

He was using the club’s pre-Christmas camp at Lorne on Victoria’s west coast to build rapport with his new teammates as much as stake a claim on a position in the team.

That didn’t mean he wasn’t eyeing off a role that suited his strengths.

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“Hopefully playing the front half across half-forward and even in the midfield and bring my strengths to the team [such as] ball use and decision-making,” Billings said. “Hopefully I hit the scoreboard, and I am able to connect with our forwards inside 50.”

As a new addition, he was full of praise for the environment despite repeated questions about whether Melbourne’s culture was conducive to high performance.

“Obviously, there’s been some external noise but from literally the moment I came through the doors, Ii’s been great,” Billings said. “If you came into the club you wouldn’t know anything about that stuff.”

That stuff has centred around star midfielder Clayton Oliver and Joel Smith, both players absent from training at Lorne where the mood was both competitive and light-hearted.

Oliver headed home from the camp on Monday night as he dealt with his ongoing health challenges while Smith remains provisionally suspended after recording a positive test to an illicit drug.

Billings, who will wear No.14, is enjoying getting to know Oliver as they are neighbours in the locker room and says the star midfielder has the club’s support.

The mood at Melbourne’s camp has been light-hearted as 2023 draws to a close.Credit: Joe Armao

“[He’s] just working through some things, obviously. The club has being unbelievable with their support to him, and everyone is behind him,” Billings said.

The former Saint knows it’s now or never for his own ambitions. “I’m pretty hungry and motivated for next year and looking forward to being part of the Dees,” Billings said.

He has the fresh start he craved after suffering a broken leg, a hamstring injury and a broken thumb, the compact left-footer re-energised to be in a group determined to prove people wrong in 2024.

“I’ve always loved the game and I think it’s probably in those tougher moments when you probably reflect and think about why you do it all, and you probably come back to how much you love the game,” Billings said.

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