Demons mull Oliver tag twist in Lions' den

It is not a tactic the Demons are wedded to long term, with Oliver only thrust into the unfamiliar role because teammate Jack Viney (concussion) was sidelined.

But it is hoped it could help Oliver find his feet as the star midfielder seeks to reignite his best football after a couple of underwhelming years.

Oliver did well to limit Newcombe and, with Viney still out, now faces the possibility of running with Lachie Neale, Hugh McCluggage or Will Ashcroft when Melbourne visit the Gabba on Sunday.

"That's something we'll certainly look at," Goodwin said.

"I'll say this a lot, but there's two things with Clayton: one's his health that we're working on and two's getting him back to his best footy.

"The thing we love about Clayton right now is he'll do whatever the team needs him to do.

"We loved what he did last week in terms of his role (opposed to Newcombe) and we want to continue to grow his game.

"We're not committed to him being a long-term tagger - it's about what's best for the team right now."

Goodwin is still weighing up the merits of deploying Oliver in a negating role against Brisbane.

"There's no shortage (of options). You look at Hugh McCluggage and his form's been outstanding," Goodwin said.

"He ranks really highly in the AFL in terms of where his ranking points are and what he does from an offensive perspective.

"But then you've got Lachie Neale, who's a two-time Brownlow medallist and continues to dominate the competition.

"Will Ashcroft, who stands up in any big game and delivers.

"There's certainly options there for our team, but we need to make sure that we go after our game as well and make sure we get our midfield playing to the right level."

Brisbane have won four of the past five meetings with Melbourne but only one of those encounters has been decided by more than 13 points.

"When Melbourne play Brisbane, generally the game swings on contest," Goodwin said.