Melbourne's Clayton Oliver in action against Adelaide in round 10, 2021. Picture: AFL Photos

CLAYTON Oliver's masterpiece against Adelaide on Saturday night was a performance for the ages – and the numbers back it up. 

The raw statistics alone were jaw-dropping, but perhaps the most eye-opening number came from Champion Data, who rated his game as the fourth-best of any player since 2010 under its Player Ratings model. 

Oliver racked up 40.9 points, to trail only Lance Franklin's 13 goals against North Melbourne in 2012 (50.5 points), Steve Johnson's seven goals and 11 assists in a record-breaking 186-point win over Melbourne in 2011 (48.7), and Mark LeCras' bag of 12 against Essendon in 2010 (43.2).

The 23-year-old's performance against the Crows was so good, it catapulted him past Gary Ablett's 41-disposal, four-goal effort against Adelaide in 2011. 

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Oliver was simply unstoppable, particularly after half-time, and finished the match with 38 disposals, including a career-high 27 contested. 

CROWS v DEMONS Full match coverage and stats

He also won 13 clearances, laid nine tackles, kicked three goals – the most of his 109-game career – and had 11 score involvements. 

It was a complete game the likes of which we've rarely seen.

Top 10 AFL Player Ratings performances (2010-21)

 SCORE  PLAYER  OPPONENT  TIME
 50.5  Lance Franklin (Haw)  North Melbourne  R10, 2012
 48.7  Steve Johnson (Geel)  Melbourne  R19, 2011
 43.2  Mark LeCras (WC)  Essendon  R16, 2010
 40.9  Clayton Oliver (Melb)  Adelaide  R10, 2021
 40.8  Gary Ablett (GC)  Adelaide  R8, 2011
 40.4  Jake Melksham (Melb)  Carlton   R9, 2018
 39.9  Lance Franklin (Syd)   West Coast  R1, 2018
 38.4  Lance Franklin (Syd)  Carlton  R23, 2017
 38.3  Jeremy Cameron (GWS)  Gold Coast  R12, 2018
 37.4  Dayne Zorko (BL)  Geelong  R16, 2017