Lions in Focus: Aaron Clarke       

By Daniel Atamian

The Coburg faithful have watched Aaron Clarke  grow and develop before their very eyes, both his body and skills have improved since the then tall and wiry football prospect arrived at Coburg ahead of the 2020 season.

Unfortunately the Covid Pandemic robbed Clarke of his first VFL season, but Clarke did not waste time dedicating himself to getting stronger in that “gap” year.

In 2021, Aaron played all 10 VFL games for Coburg as a young key forward as an understudy to then club Captain and forward line mainstay Peter McEvoy.

“Clarkey” reflects on his earliest memories of falling in love with the game of footy, stating a strong grass roots connection being key to his passion . “First footballing memory like most kids was running around and having a kick at Auskick”.

His attendance at his local Auskick clinics would soon help mold Clarke in wanting to further his footballing “My junior football club was Melton South, and I would’ve started in U/10’s”.

When asked to summarise what makes him a natural key forward, the 195cm forward said “I’m a key forward whose biggest strength would be contested marking”.

Clarke says he started to gain confidence around his game when selections came for representative football side, “I guess during junior footy, I always selected in representative sides so that was a pretty good indicator to myself that I could play somewhat”.

Though the selections to play “rep footy” were coming through Clarke mentioned his talents weren’t considered for the NAB League (now Coates Talent League) until he was 18 years old due to partaking in another sporting interest of his; cricket. “I didn’t really get to a NAB League program till 18 years old due to mainly prioritizing cricket previously, so went in with no expectations and ended up having some strong performances at NAB League, just wasn’t consistent enough, was fortunate enough to get another opportunity to play as a 19 year old”.

Playing VFL footy in an away game can be pretty daunting, making your debut away would have most frozen like a deer in headlight, however for Clarkey who looks back on his first game for the Lions says hitting the scoreboard early helped settle his nerves. “.. Was pretty nervous for my debut for Coburg, but managed to get my first VFL goal pretty early on in the game so that settled me down, was the opening game of the year infront of a pretty big pro-Frankston crowd”.

The Lions may not have walked out of that game as the winners of the match, however it let Clarke make his mark for the Burgers in what would be the start of his goal tally which isn’t the only thing to improve since that cold night down south. “I guess from debuting at 20 to now being 23, I have much more confidence in my body physically, consistency is also something I’ve improved in but still have a long way to go”.

Clarke would touch further on the developments that he has made since that debut game against Frankston that have helped both physically and also mentally from a confidence aspect,  “I’ve filled out into more of a key position body from my first game to now, so the biggest difference is being physically stronger in marking contests which would now be my biggest strength as a player, and just experience is a massive factor in being able to read the game as a forward so the more VFL games under my belt the more consistently I will be able to perform.

2023 would see Clark make a jump to a new playing number also, moving from his old 31 to number 12, held previously by Team Captain and VFL favourite; Peter McEvoy, the recently inducted Coburg Life Member specifically requested the number be kept within the forward group which Clarke is now seen as a leader amongst the group. “It was pretty strongly suggested by Seb (Coburg CEO) that he (Pete) wanted me to take number 12, so I guess it’s good to keep it in a key forwards hands following on from Peter”.

When speaking about the upcoming 2023 AFL Mid-Season Draft and how he feels Coburg has helped prepare him to take the next step to the National stage, Clarkey said “Coburg’s been a big learning curve in my development as a player, shown me the work rate required as a key forward on the field and how to get your body right off the field to become a better athlete”.

Whilst Clarke likes to have his gameplay do majority of his talking, the humble big man continues to further develop his career path through studies and work. “Outside of footy I’m in my final year of a Masters of Teaching and work at a transport company”.

Should nothing eventuate from the AFL Mid-Season Rookie Draft, football observers everywhere can vouch that Aaron Clark has developed into one of the VFL’s premier Key Forward options in the competition and if given a chance to play at the highest level, like in a marking contest he’ll grab it with both hands and make the most of his opportunity.

#WeAreCoburg #LionMode