THE AFL is investigating a heated exchange between Melbourne midfielder Clayton Oliver and a Carlton fan during Sunday's game at the MCG.

In a second-quarter incident, a Blues fan sitting in the front row at the MCG appeared to yell at Oliver as he followed the ball over the boundary line during the second quarter, upon which the Demon midfielder approached him and the pair had a brief verbal exchange.

An AFL spokesman confirmed on Monday the League had launched an investigation into the incident, but said it might not be concluded until later this week.

Melbourne and Carlton are also understood to be investigating the matter.

Demons coach Simon Goodwin said on Sunday night he would discuss the incident with Oliver.

"Clearly Clayton is not going to react to something unnecessarily. Let's get all the information on it before we start criticising," Goodwin said.

Demons midfielder Jordan Lewis said Oliver needed to work on not letting critics get under his skin.

"You do get thick skin the longer you're in the game," he said on Monday.

"He's obviously early on in his career. He wouldn't have felt this for the first 18 years of his life.

"It is a whole new world that these young kids are entering and they have to understand it's not necessarily personal but they're trying to put us off our game.

"You can't react to Twitter or fans who try and provoke you at games, you've just got to move on."

Lewis said players had to accept that there were few limits on what fans could throw at them.

"I think anything racial, and anything like that is clearly out of bounds - other than that, they can say what they want," he said.

"It's part of the game. You just laugh it off."

Oliver was at the centre of another controversy two weeks ago when he was widely accused of staging after copping an elbow to the chin from West Coast defender Will Schofield.

Schofield was offered a one-game ban by the MRP for an early plea, but successfully appealed the striking charge at the AFL Tribunal.

Oliver was also involved in a Twitter spat with former Test cricketer Damien Martyn following the incident with Schofield.