AFL Draft 2022: Charlie Clarke on his Toby Greene-like energy, dropping out of school and living in housing commission
He’s always had talent, but poor attitude saw Charlie Clarke cut from St Kilda’s academy at 15. Three years later, however, he’s on the cusp of the big time. Here’s what changed.
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Charlie Clarke knows he is a serial pest on the field, but he doesn’t care.
The livewire draft prospect, who channels the energy and in-your-face attitude of Toby Greene and Tom Papley, openly admits to employing tactics to get under his opponent’s skin.
“Most people I played against don’t like me and I don’t blame them. I’m quite frustrating,” Clarke told the Herald Sun.
“I like to blow in their ear and touch them and be real annoying, but that’s just what I do and it gets in their head and it works for me.”
In the national championships finale in September, Clarke was given close attention by tackling machine Hugh Bond. He kept him to five disposals, but Clarke kicked two goals and “milked” a free kick which set up another.
“He was pushing me over and I tried to milk a free kick and I ended up getting one. I think I got the better of that and then we got the win, so I definitely got the better of him that day,” he said.
While it is these aspects that could see him polarise opposition fans at the next level – think Toby Greene and Jack Ginnivan – his lively goal celebrations, on-field energy and miraculous goal sense will ensure he is loved by his own supporters.
The 182cm forward had an exciting highlight reel in his 29-goal NAB League season — with plenty of big celebrations — for the premiership-winning Sandringham Dragons, including a strong finish to the season where he slotted 10 majors across the finals series.
“I usually just wing it (with celebrations) and whatever I’m feeling, turn to the crowd and give them a little something,” Clarke said with a smile.
“I like putting a smile on peoples’ faces and getting up and about. The energy – it’s me, it’s who I am. I think that’s what excites people about me, the way I play and the character I bring.”
How up and about is Charlie Clarke?
— AFL (@AFL) September 16, 2022
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Clarke grew up in Port Melbourne public housing in his early adolescence with his mother Emma-Lee and sister Matilda.
He cherishes the memories of sporting battles out the front with his friends in the tight-knit community.
“I think (growing up in community housing) has played a huge part in my life. Especially with all the sport and the activities out in front,” Clarke said.
“It’s created the character in me, the person I am today and the love of sport I have. It’s brought that out in me, so it’s been a positive.”
“It was just my living circumstances at the time. I had an unreal childhood, I made so many friends and as I said we were either playing cricket or mini-soccer out the front, it was unreal. Couldn’t have asked for anything better.”
Those temporary living circumstances in his early adolescence were brought about by his parents’ break-up.
Clarke’s mother and father, Jason are now back together and have been for the best part of a decade.
He said they had been a great support along his football journey.
“My mum and dad run a transport company, they have tandem trucks and they just run them and they’re very influential in my footy. My dad was a gun local footballer and he has a good knowledge of football and a very good footy brain,” he said.
DROPPING OUT
Clarke also grew up in and around the Port Melbourne Colts changerooms with his father, Jason, a club legend as a player and a coach.
He has fond memories of watching his dad kick bags of goals in the local leagues, the highlights being a 95-goal season later in his career and his six-straight grand finals and two premierships with Port as coach.
Jason, who joked Clarke’s on-field flamboyancy was “hereditary”, has helped Clarke take the next step in his football journey with his loving – yet firm – advice.
“He’s got a great footy mind and he was a gun goalkicker. I watched him kick 16 one day against Glen Ordan when I was only eight or nine, and we were just loving it going off our heads,” Clarke said with a smile.
But the thing that proved most decisive in Clarke’s footballing career was his call to drop out of school at the end of Year 9 and move to Harvester Technical College in Sunshine the following year.
At 15, Clarke had been cut from the St Kilda Academy – for prospects in their zone – and he had been given some home truths: he was one of the most talented kids there, but his attitude wasn’t great.
While Clarke had to catch a train and a bus to school each day to attend trade school, the change improved his wellbeing and it translated to his performances on-field.
When Covid restrictions limited his ability to attend the trade school, Clarke was offered a carpentry apprenticeship with a friend of his uncle – until the beginning of the year when footy took hold.
The career move had an unexpected bonus: the son of his boss is 5000m Olympian Sam McEntee, who competed at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
McEntee, who boasts the fourth fastest time at Melbourne’s The Tan track, helped Clarke shave more than a minute off his 2km time trial time from last year’s pre-season through his training with the youngster.
Jason is confident that his son’s early experience on the job will give him the motivation and grit to thrive at AFL level.
“I’ve got no doubt, especially being on the tools in the worksite and seeing how hard it can be. Working on 35, 38 degree days and digging holes and stuff like that, I think that is going to hold him in good stead too,” Jason said.
“I’d rather be out here doing an AFL pre-season playing in front of crowds’ – I think if you can do that for the next 10-15 years, that’s motivation in itself.”
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Originally published as AFL Draft 2022: Charlie Clarke on his Toby Greene-like energy, dropping out of school and living in housing commission
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