Jordan Clark’s upcoming 50th game milestone adds another chapter to a career-best season so far in the west, as the dashing half-back looks to help Fremantle push towards their first finals series since 2015.
Clark played 32 games across three seasons at Geelong, before making the switch to Fremantle, where he has lined up in the purple 17 times.
The 21-year-old hasn’t missed a match in 2022, finding strong continuity and form after cementing a role across the half-back line for Fremantle.
Clark believes the clear role set out on his arrival at Freo by Senior Coach Justin Longmuir and backline coach Matthew Boyd, has helped build that form across the season.
While he sees 50 games as a ‘nice’ milestone, Clark isn’t reading too much into the feat.
“I haven’t read into it too much, 50 games is nothing too big really,” Clark said.
"I’m not looking at it as anything bigger than a game that I play every weekend. It’s nice, but I’m not resting my laurels on it.
“When I came to Freo I was thinking we would be pretty competitive but to be in the top four as we speak and looking to try and hold onto that is a pretty big effort from a young group that has a lot still to learn and a lot to improve on.
“I sat down with Matthew Boyd and Justin Longmuir on day one and they set out the half-back role for me, I had a few things to work on and tidy up, so I got to work.”
Clark said the group was disappointed with the result against Sydney over the weekend, with the Swans kick-mark style breaking through Freo’s renowned team defence to win by 17 points.
He said it was up to the collective group to turn it around, with the shorter break between games a great opportunity to quickly switch focus to the Tigers on Friday night.
“We felt we didn’t execute our gameplan to be the best we could’ve been, and we are looking to bounce back over this week,” Clark said.
“It’s a short turnaround, a six-day break between games. We had a really good session last night and we’ll be looking to make amends on some of those things.
“I think everyone in the AFL probably prefers a six-day break after a loss, it probably just allows you to move on a bit quicker and focus on your next game.”
Clark hopes to run out on Friday night alongside key talls Alex Pearce and Rory Lobb, who both looked to move well on the training track on Tuesday night.
“Alex moved pretty well (last night), he’s really important to us,” Clark said.
“He plays on the best key forward every week and has done a really good job this year, so I’m hoping I get to run out with him on Friday.
“Speaking to ‘Lobby’, he feels pretty good. He is upbeat and is bringing the usual energy he brings, so fingers crossed he gets out there.”
