Clarke competed strongly against Sydney duo Shane Mumford and Mike Pyke in Freo’s draw with the Swans.
He had 16 disposals, seven marks, 27 hitouts and a goal playing 85 per cent game time, despite doubts over his ability to run out an AFL game first-up.
“I thought he came in and played with a real steel in the air,” Lyon told 6PR.
“(He took) some really strong marks and he got his hand on it to give our midfielders an opportunity.
“He’s got a big responsibility to keep that going but it’s a wonderful opportunity for him.”
Lyon said small forward Michael Walters would be given as much time as he needed to heal from his ankle injury.
Walters is listed as three to four weeks on Freo’s injury list, but the senior coach said that shouldn’t be taken as gospel.
“There’s an outside chance of three, but we’re reluctant to put figures on it because we want to hit key performance indicators (KPIs) and rehab them to KPIs,” Lyon said.
“We’ll just take it day by day. If he hits his KPIs we’ll move him on quickly.”
