Former Brisbane Lions AFL player Justin Clarke has joined the Surfers Paradise Cricket Club alongside teammate Claye Beams

Team sport always has and always will be a part of this former Lion’s life. It just looks a little different in retirement. FULL INTERVIEW.

TEAM sport always has and always will be a part of Justin Clarke’s life.

It just looks a little different in retirement.

In 2016, the South Australian’s promising AFL career was cut short and he was forced to retire from the Brisbane Lions after 56 games due to lingering concussion complications.

Coaching came calling and Clarke was soon signed as a development coach for the Sherwood Magpies QAFL side where he has been mentoring since.

But the competitive itch wouldn’t go away and so after a stint as part of Queensland’s 2017 State Rowing Championships XIII, a conversation with fellow Sherwood assistant coach and former Lions teammate Claye Beams led him back to a childhood love.

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“I was chatting to Claye because he was working as an assistant coach at the Sherwood Magpies and I told him I’d played cricket back in Melbourne for the summer and he asked if I wanted to go and have a net session,” Clarke said.

The fast bowler impressed and so Beams, captain of the Surfers Paradise Kookaburra Cup first grade side, invited Clarke to nest at the Demons for the summer.

“I was all cricket and footy growing up so it was a very traditional country childhood,” Clarke said.

“Cricket is obviously a bit different to footy like in the middle overs you’re sitting down watching people bat and having a chat with your mates which you don’t get in footy.

“I’ve missed the cricket culture and it’s always something I’ve enjoyed.”

Clarke continues to balance his Saturday cricket commitments with a demanding dual Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering) and a Bachelor of Science (Mathematics) degree at the University of Queensland.

Brisbane Lions player Justin Clarke at The Gabba . Pics Tara Croser.

The 26-year-old finished his undergraduate course on Friday and was surprised with the news he had been named Queensland’s latest Rhodes Scholar and will head to Oxford University in the new year.

Surfers Paradise faces Alberton Ormeau in Round 4 of Kookaburra Cup action on Saturday.

“It’s a good opportunity for us to get a win and hopefully we get the chance to build some more momentum,” Clarke said.

“Our team is building quite nicely and we’ve gotten to witness some incredible performances from Nathan Reardon so far which has been awesome to watch.

“As a bowling group, we’re bowling well to our plans and as a team we’re improving each week.”

EARLIER

SURFERS Paradise and Helensvale Pacific Pines have written another chapter in their thrilling history after the Demons claimed a heart-stopping four-run win thanks largely to a heroic Nathan Reardon century.

Just 11 runs have separated the two clubs in their last two first grade meetings and Saturday’s encounter was no different with the Hawks needing 10 runs off the last over to secure victory.

Surfers looked in trouble early at Nerang Oval when they lost three wickets for 15 runs.

But Reardon, a former professional Australian cricketer, battled bravely through a neck injury to anchor the Demons innings and finish with 106 to steer his side to a total of 177.

“He missed last week with a neck injury but he’s had some injections and CT scans and the doctors have said he won’t do any more damage playing,” Surfers Paradise coach Scott Day said.

“It stops him playing some shots but he’s missed cricket and he reckons he’ll get better each week.”

Nathan Reardon bats for Bulls Masters against Australian Country XI in Australian Country Cricket Championships exhibition match at Heritage Oval, Sunday, January 5, 2020. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Helensvale made inroads early with the bat before Cameron Francis’s catch at gully to dismiss Harry Lickiss swung momentum in Surfers favours - as did Sam Willis’s stunning long-range run-out of captain Jack Lickiss.

At the death, Surfers captain Claye Beams handed the ball to Blake Reynolds despite not bowling an over the entire afternoon.

With the Hawks needing 10 runs to win, Reynolds steeled himself and executed a handful of yorkers to leave Helensvale requiring six runs off the final ball which they couldn’t chase down.

“I don’t know what it is about it, but every time we play Helensvale, it always goes down to the last ball or the last few runs,” Day said.

“Their batting got them back into it late and we were lucky to get over the line in the end.

“I’m always backing our boys to do it and they always compete at 100 per cent so if they didn’t’ execute, it wasn’t going to be from a lack of effort.

“Both sides had periods of dominance and we were happy to be on the right side of it.

“There’s nothing better than winning and we fell over in the first game and Queens were too good for us so we didn’t want to be zero and two.”

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In other Round 2 results, Queens defeated Burleigh, Southport Labrador downed Broadbeach Robina, Mudgeeraba Nerang beat Alberton Ormeau, Coomera Hope Island enjoyed a victory over Colts JCC and Palm Beach Currumbin had the better of Runaway Bay.