The club’s big man stocks took a hit in 2013 beginning with a hamstring injury to champion ruckman Aaron Sandilands that forced him to miss the first 13 games of the season.
Jonathon Griffin went down with a season ending knee injury in round seven against Collingwood.
That followed the round 5 loss of Kepler Bradley, who had previously played the role of back up ruckman.
“It takes a while to grow into your body as a ruckman and to understand the game,” Clarke said.
“With the other guys being out, it’s probably helped with time in the middle.
“When Aaron is playing we rotate quite a bit more but when he’s been injured I’ve shouldered a lot more load.”
Now in his fourth year at Freo, Clarke said he was still a middle tier player.
“I’m not one of the young guys anymore, but when you’ve got ‘Pav’ and ‘Spider’ running around who have played over 200 games, I’ve still got a fair bit to go to reach their level,” he said.
First year player Jack Hannath has also been called up to fill the ruck breach, and Clarke has passed on some advice to him.
“I’ve tried to help Jack and Craig Moller. As a young ruckman I know how hard it is in your first year of AFL,” Clarke said.
“From my experiences I can tell them a few little tips and tricks.”
With finals footy fast approaching, Clarke is keen to make sure his name is in the line-up.
He was omitted in the elimination final last year against Geelong before earning a call up for the semi-final in Adelaide.
“Missing the first final last year was disappointing, so this year I want to do all I can for the team and make sure my name is in the 22,” he said.
“We’re all aiming for success, so hopefully this club can experience that in the next few years.”
