Sam Clohesy on his breakout AFL season with Gold Coast and playing at MCG for first time
This time last year, Sam Clohesy called Werribee’s Chirnside Park home. He speaks to CALLUM DICK about how he went from a VFL hopeful to playing on the MCG for the first time as a Sun.
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On Friday night, Scott Pendlebury ran out for game 254 on the MCG.
Less than 20 hours later, Sam Clohesy will step onto the hallowed turf for the very first time as an AFL player.
By now the novelty of playing at the home of football has likely waned for Collingwood’s 403-game superstar.
But for first-year Sun Clohesy, who as recently as last year was buying his own way through the turnstiles, the prospect still feels like a fever dream.
“As a kid you go to games at the ‘G and all you want to do is be out there,” the 21 year old said.
“It’s the pinnacle. All you want to do is play a game at the ‘G. Firstly to play an AFL game and then get to the main stage. I’m so excited.”
With the Suns’ September dreams now dashed, Saturday’s season-ending clash with Richmond will be the one and only time Damien Hardwick’s side sees the MCG in 2024.
And unless the Suns become finals regulars, MCG matches will remain a once-in-a-blue-moon prospect for Clohesy and co.
Gold Coast’s games record holder David Swallow has played just 11 of his 240 AFL games at the venue.
Collingwood’s round 21 win over Carlton was Pendlebury’s 11th game at the MCG this season alone.
Sam Clohesy gets up 🚀
— Fox Footy (@FOXFOOTY) August 10, 2024
📺 Watch #AFLDonsSuns on ch. 504 or stream on Kayo: https://t.co/OyUPVaNHdS
âœï¸ BLOG https://t.co/TFgj89kRC3
🔢 MATCH CENTRE https://t.co/vZgt9plznrpic.twitter.com/pZa7m31nSG
But the numbers matter little to Clohesy, who only 12 months ago would have been thrilled to simply play in a single AFL game, regardless of the setting.
“If you had told me that at the start of the year I would have thought you were joking,” he said.
“It’s a credit to everyone for just giving me a chance to show what I could do, and to Dimma for putting his trust in me to play my role.”
His is one of the feel-good stories of 2024.
Raised in Geelong before relocating to the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Clohesy’s football foundations came as a member of the Suns Academy.
After three years in the Suns’ system his family returned to Victoria, where he boarded at Assumption College and played for the Calder Cannons with eyes firmly on the AFL draft.
Overlooked but not overwhelmed, Clohesy continued his development at Werribee under former Suns midfielder Michael Barlow.
In 2023 he played against the Suns in the VFL grand final and was among the best on ground, capping his season with the prestigious Fothergill-Round-Mitchell Medal as the league’s best young player.
Less than two months later, Gold Coast handed Clohesy an AFL lifeline by taking him with pick No. 4 in the rookie draft.
He made his debut in round 4 against GWS and has played every game since.
Parachuted directly onto the wing, in one of the most thankless roles in footy, Clohesy became a quick study.
“I’ve learned a lot about myself this year,” he said.
“Firstly, I’m actually pretty calm with the ball, which I didn’t think I was. That was a big growth area for me after last year, I thought I was a bit rushed and nervous with the ball sometimes.
“The first few weeks (in the AFL) were a bit tense and tough, but it’s slowed down a bit for me now. I’ve learned I can deal with the pressure which is nice.”
Newfound confidence in himself – and the confidence of his coaches – helped Clohesy flourish.
High praise from three-time premiership coach Damien Hardwick for our 2023 draftee Sam Clohesy after his two seasons with the Werribee Football Club 🤩
— Werribee FC (@WerribeeFC) May 16, 2024
Catch Sammy on the big stage tonight as the Suns take on the Cats!
âš«ï¸ðŸŸ¡ #TheStoryContinues@VFL@GoldCoastSUNSpic.twitter.com/zmRboHk7Vh
In his first three games he averaged 19 disposals and kicked four goals. At one point he was among the top five ranked wingers in the AFL according to Champion Data.
Though his numbers have waned slightly across the season, Clohesy has taken a mature approach to assessing his performance.
“There’s times where the ball isn’t on your side of the field and you’re doing a lot of running for not a lot of reward – but (Hardwick) will show vision of you being in the right spots and being set-up correctly which is really important for the way we want to move the ball and win games,” Clohesy said.
“And then you have games where the ball is on your side of the ground all the time and you get the chance to really show what you can do.
“So against West Coast (in round 21) I wasn’t able to have much of an impact with the ball. But then I go out against Essendon the next week, I run the exact same patterns and have 10 touches in the first quarter or something.”
Reunited ☀ï¸ðŸ¯
— Werribee FC (@WerribeeFC) May 27, 2024
Our 2023 draftee and current Sun, Sam Clohesy, WFC #939, fresh off playing at Marvel on Saturday dropped by to see us play on Past Players Day!
Great to see you Sam 🙋â€â™‚ï¸
âš«ï¸ðŸŸ¡ #TheStoryContinuespic.twitter.com/atandrDdAL
On Saturday, Clohesy will get to live out every little footballer’s dream when he runs out on the MCG.
But for the boy from Geelong, every day this year has been a dream come true. The novelty still has not worn off.
“Being in the AFL system with Dimma as my coach is something that as a kid I never thought would happen.
“Living the full-time life as a footy player on the Gold Coast, running out each week no matter if it’s home or away, running through the banner with the song going … I’m still in awe. It still hasn’t sunk in.”
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