Essendon cult hero Angus Clarke on his new diet and journey from Tantanoola to the AFL

Growing up on a dairy farm in regional South Australia, Angus Clarke always understood the sacrifice and hard work it would take to make the AFL – and it shaped his journey to the MCG.

• Clarke family steals the show after stunning debut

Angus Clarke set a price that “sounded legit” for a load of firewood at recess and split the profits with his parents to fund his AFL dream.

The firewood was a nice little side hustle, Clarke says, which was the brainchild of a schoolteacher and helped pay for petrol as well as flights on small planes to and from Adelaide, recognising the enormous sacrifice it would take to become an AFL footballer.

The 19-year-old is now a rising star nominee after a glittering debut game in Friday night’s clash with Richmond when he booted three goals in the first half.

Angus Clarke with his family after being presented with his Essendon jumper. Picture: James Wiltshire/AFL Photos

He hails from Tantanoola — a country town in regional South Australia where his parents Michelle and Stuart run a dairy farm a nine-hour round-trip from Adelaide where he played for both Glenelg and South Australia.

“I started cutting wood for winter season, and a teacher actually asked me whether I sold firewood. I said ‘I’ll get back to you with a price’, and I made one up at recess,” Clarke laughed.

“It sounded legit, so I thought I’d stick with that. I started giving half the profit to mum and dad — it cost a lot to go up to Adelaide, around $500 a week. It was a massive ask for them, so if I sold four loads of firewood it was about $400 to give to them, which helped so much.

It ended up paying off. It was a lot of time, a sore body going into the axe and the chainsaw, spending all my days off — there wasn’t much recovery getting done. It was a constant loop of footy, chop wood, school and working on the farm to help dad out to be able to give him the time off to take me up, as well.”

It laid the foundation for the work required at the game’s top level.

“It comes back to the farm and what dad always said about the values of working hard,” Clarke told the Herald Sun.

“Because you can’t not work hard on the farm, or you wouldn’t get any reward if you didn’t work hard.

“It definitely worked — I worked pretty bloody hard to get where I am, driving four-and-a-half hours each way, two times a week, was definitely a commitment that me and my parents made. It was tough. We definitely had some weeks where we could have said no to coming up to play, but then I might not have been in the position I’m in now if we’d have said no to some of those weeks. I’m forever grateful for my parents for what they’ve done.”

Clarke at the start of his first pre-season. Picture: Mark Stewart

And after kicking his first in the big time on Saturday. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos

Dad delivers the occasional load of meat to his boy, who has added eight kilograms to his frame in just six months in what teammate Andrew McGrath says is the next step in his developing game.

Clarke — who was told he was “a bit too skinny” in his draft year — revealed his astounding approach to snacks, saying up to six lamb chops a day has been behind adding more

“My housemates take the mickey out of me a bit, but I do eat a lot (now),” he said.

“My snacks on a day off is usually about six lamb chops. Dad brought it back from the farm, so I snack on a couple of lamb chops when I’m hungry. And then I go to the local butcher at South Melbourne market and get a couple of scotch (fillet) steaks, and sometimes treat myself to a dry-aged porterhouse.

“We’ve worked really hard on that … time will be the biggest thing.”

Clarke has worked hard to put on weight. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos

Clarke the “Pup” to Essendon’s “Red Dog”, with Tantanoola just 15 minutes from Millicent, where fellow Bomber Mason Redman grew up.

“He’s the ‘Red Dog’, and so I became ‘Pup’,” Clarke said.

“We look alike and from the same area — we’ve got a lot of similarities. I lived with him for the first few months, so it worked out really well.”

The pair have developed a close bond since Clarke was picked up in last year’s draft, with Redman cooking dinner and the pair closely tending to his garden.

It’s the kind of physical labour Clarke has missed since leaving the farm, even offering to do the lawns and landscaping of his teammates who thought he was anything but serious.

The pair hit the lawnmower regularly, with Clarke soon set to embark on adding a building qualification to his skill set, but have spent countless hours watching vision with Redman’s experience an invaluable resource.

“I try to model my game a bit around him in the backline, but coming in to Friday night, he left me alone a bit, which was good,” the youngster said.

“I had a lot of things running around in my mind, but he just told me to be myself and go out there and that I was out there for a reason.

“He’s been so good.”