Dream debut

IT is safe to say former East Gambier junior Angus Clarke has quickly become a household name on the back of his three goal, 16 disposal Essendon debut in Dreamtime at the ‘G last Friday night.

Clarke let his footy do the talking, with the 18-year-old’s performance on one of the biggest home and away stages earning him the Telstra Rising Star nomination for the round – Essendon’s third for 2025.

The post-game performance has also seen the pick no. 39 from last year’s National Draft in the limelight as his media appearances endeared both Clarke, his parents Stuart and Michelle and rest of his family to the media throng and wider audience.

There has been an instant fascination with the teenager who hails from Tantanoola and his early life growing up on the family dairy farm.

Importantly, his coach Brad Scott was full of praise for the debutant.

“We’ve seen what he’s been able to do at training and through the VFL,” Bombers coach Brad Scott said after the win.

“I think the VFL program have done a terrific job getting him ready to come in and perform at AFL level and while clearly we’ve had some challenges on the availability front, we don’t want to bring players in unless we feel they’re ready to play.

“We felt Angus was ready, we had a role for him and he came in and executed as we thought he would.

“Did we think the outcome in terms of the results and three goals and all of that? Probably not. But in terms of his effort and intent to execute the role we did exactly as we thought he would.”

His skipper Zach Merrett was also full of praise.

“He’s a terrific kid,” Merrett said. “He came in day one and won our time trial – a great kid with a great attitude. He has a strong family and great values. He’ll be a long term player for the footy club.”

And outside the club the praise was also effusive with Channel 7 commentators Al Nicholson and James Brayshaw clearly impressed.

“He has made a serious impression tonight,” Nicholson said.

“Angus Clarke, take a bow,” added Brayshaw. “It’s a night he will never forget, that young man.”

While the down-to-earth Clarke and his family impressed post-match, the important reviews are of the on field performance that saw him, playing on a wing, kicking three first-half goals, finishing with 16 disposals, eight marks, three tackles and 522 metres gained.

Drafted as an intercepting half back, the verdict on his debut was swift and exclusively effusive as he implemented his wing role to perfection, covering the ground and providing a dangerous forward target in an exciting showcase of his talent.

Clarke proved key in the Bombers’ 23-point win, snaring in a couple of strong contested marks to bring up his first two career goals, before pouncing on a looping Sam Durham handball to kick his third before half-time, sending his family into raptures in the stands.

On receiving the Rising Star nomination, Clarke was grateful for the recognition following the terrific start to his career.

“It’s just another perk on top to receive the nom this week,” Clarke said.

“My family will be pumped, mum will probably shed a tear. Mason (Redman) was trying to convince me I had it in the bag this week, but I didn’t even believe him.

“I’ll be forever grateful to this club for giving me the opportunity. It’s just such a good place, you feel at home, and I can’t fault them for what they’ve done for me and the trust they had for me in a huge game.

“These fans are just rippers too, I could definitely hear them when I was lining up in the pocket and they gave all of us a huge lift.

“It was a surreal moment for me (to debut). It’s been a long ride that my parents and family have had to make, and it was so good just to see the joy on their faces.”

Clarke’s debut also served to shine a light on the added challenges regionally based travel face to make their way through elite pathways to get on the radar of an AFL club, with his Tantanoola upbringing fascinating the wider public.

Given the nine hour round trip to Adelaide by road was not always practical, the more expensive option of flights had to be part of Clarke’s winter routine and that is where the now famous wood chopping story takes centre stage,

“My Pa has a scrub on his farm, so after school when I’m free, I cut wood with a chainsaw, split the wood by hand and go and sell it,” Clarke told AFL.com.au at the AFL Draft Combine last October.

“I sell stringy bark loads of wood to help pay for my flights up to Adelaide. I halve whatever I sell with mum and dad to help cover the costs of the flights. I flew up every Friday when I was playing for the state team and it’s about $250 per flight and I sell a ute load for $200.

“I came up with the idea when someone came up to me and asked, ‘Do you sell wood?’ I thought, you know what, I can do that. It just grew from there. Word of mouth in a country town.”

Given Clarke’s off-Broadway lead into the National Draft, he had to take every opportunity to shine and it was performances for South Australia against Vic Country and Vic Metro that saw recruiters start to sit up and take notice, ending in his arrival at Essendon.

Clarke is now the third Bomber to be in the running for the Telstra Rising Star award this season after the efforts of Archie Roberts (round five) and Nate Caddy (round nine).

Safe to say, Clarke has to pack his bags to travel to Brisbane this week, set for the Bombers’ away clash with the Lions at the Gabba on Thursday night.