Senior 13. Jhye Clark (2022 - )

[Pivo]

It wasn't the greatest midfield of the AFL era at the end of 2006. It was a promising young team that had just missed the finals despite expectations of much better performance, and then undergone a searching internal review that almost ended with the coach being sacked. Night & day with right now.

Selwood got very lucky with the timing of his arrival, and was good enough to take the chance.

Clark will likely have a different path, and so it should be. Parfitt DESERVES to take Selwood's spot from the GF team. Holmes deserves to come in too. And there are a bunch of others who, right now, would be ahead of Clark in the pecking order. He most likely will have to bide his time and put some runs on the board in the VFL, and if he has the character we all hope he has then that won't be a problem. In fact it might be exactly what he needs (just ask our 2002 VFL team).

The poor kid is already being compared to Selwood every time the media utters his name. He's not the next Joel Selwood, he's the first Jhye Clark, and we should all let him be that.

And please, please, PLEASE don't give him No.14... that will just make it worse. Let him grow into his own skin.

I'm hoping Geelong cotton wools 14 for a year.

That leaves numbers 4, 12, 19, 21, 31, 36, 40 & 41 vacated this year to assign. I seem to remember Geelong giving the lowest available number to the first draft pick and then the next lowest to the next drafted and so on but I'm not too sure whether traded in players has screwed that around.

And totally agree with you, he is Jhye Clark, the first of his name....not sure if he is the King of the Andals and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, and Protector of the Realm yet

 

[Cattas_21]

I'm hoping Geelong cotton wools 14 for a year.

That leaves numbers 4, 12, 19, 21, 31, 36, 40 & 41 vacated this year to assign. I seem to remember Geelong giving the lowest available number to the first draft pick and then the next lowest to the next drafted and so on but I'm not too sure whether traded in players has screwed that around.

And totally agree with you, he is Jhye Clark, the first of his name....not sure if he is the King of the Andals and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, and Protector of the Realm yet

Also 13 and 43 which weren't used this season

 

[Phill Hendo]

So we went with the local boy and by all reports he will be a star. Congratulations and good luck Jhye. I disagree with people who think he isnt expecting to earn his spot for round one. It will be great that he is good enough to do that. The issue is we have a lot of guys going for the same positions. We cant play them all. So list balance is the issue for me. Just like Coop, someone will have to fall out.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Well I'm confused. First I read he is virtually no chance of playing a single afl game next year and now he won't play much vfl . Someone must be very wrong.

No..im saying he will play some afl games without being an absolute b22 lock and when he isnt in the 1s he will be 'managed' and not play vfl much. We have form doing this with young players we rate.

 

[Jhye Clark 13]

I'm hoping Geelong cotton wools 14 for a year.

That leaves numbers 4, 12, 19, 21, 31, 36, 40 & 41 vacated this year to assign. I seem to remember Geelong giving the lowest available number to the first draft pick and then the next lowest to the next drafted and so on but I'm not too sure whether traded in players has screwed that around.

And totally agree with you, he is Jhye Clark, the first of his name....not sure if he is the King of the Andals and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, and Protector of the Realm yet

It used to be the player who had played the most games ... Our first pick was assigned that number.

 

[#6 Thorp #7 Selwood LOL]

 

[Kobe Gryant]

 

[Lana]

Also 13 and 43 which weren't used this season

13 is a good number

 

[BlakeyNoFlakey]

 

[BORIS332]

So we went with the local boy and by all reports he will be a star. Congratulations and good luck Jhye. I disagree with people who think he isnt expecting to earn his spot for round one. It will be great that he is good enough to do that. The issue is we have a lot of guys going for the same positions. We cant play them all. So list balance is the issue for me. Just like Coop, someone will have to fall out.

We already had Parfitt, Menegola and Holmes vying for Selwood’s spot in the premiership 22. Now we have Bowes, Bruhn and Clark. Not to mention Henry needs to find his way in somehow. And guys like Dempsey, Knevitt, Whyte, Willis and Kroeger will be more competitive.

Our depth this off-season has gone to another level.

 

[Reg Hickey]

I like your post but i disagree with your assessment that a guy who hasnt even had his chance walking through the doors is already being labelled by yourself as behind x y z. If the coaches believe he is good enough he absolutely deserves to leapfrog Parfitt or miers. We are not a boys club or a test cricket team going off career averages.

If his form warrants it he gets the nod, he doesn't sit behind anyone because they have been around longer.

He's behind them precisely BECAUSE he hasn't walked through the door yet. That's my point.

How will the coaches figure out if he's good enough to get a game ahead of more established players who have performed well on an AFL field like Parfitt and Miers? Because he can get a kick against a bunch of 65kg school kids? LOL, how do you reckon Parfitt would've gone in the U18 Champs this year as a 23yo with over 100 senior AFL games under his belt? He probably would've averaged 50 touches and about 250 ranking points. We all like to get excited about gun juniors, but don't forget that the gulf between U18 footy and senior AFL footy is HUGE.

Sh*t clubs might give kids games ahead of more established quality players based on their junior reputation, but the Cats aren't a sh*t club. We're the reigning premier, the best run club in the comp, and we have serious depth on our list. We have 22 premiership players, and a roll call of quality lining up to try to break in including Holmes, Menegola, Bowes, Bruhn, O Henry, Ceglar, Ratugolea, Simpson and a bunch of kids who have already been on the list a year or two and are also raring for a shot. No 18yo kid, no matter how good he was at junior level, should be walking into that team just because he was a decent junior. If he gets a game, he earns it with what he does AT THE CLUB.

And right now, unlike Parfitt & Miers, he has zero points in the bank at the club. Zero. Parfitt & Miers on the other hand both have multiple preseasons under their belts, almost 200 AFL games between them, are premiership players, and have both shown the ability to have a strong impact at senior AFL level. They're also both just hitting their prime. To say that some kid who hasn't even had his first training session is NOT starting from behind them is frankly offensive to them.

Look, as I said, that doesn't mean Clark can't go past both of them fairly quickly if he does turn out to be a star. Exceptional performance on the track over summer will definitely help. A few stand out efforts at VFL level against mature bodies will help even more. If Parfitt and/or Miers have a poor run of form that will help more again.

If we're hit by injuries during the preseason he might even get a game very early due to availability. But he has to put the runs on the board if he's gonna be picked ahead of proven players when they're fit.

 

[InnocentBystandr]

I recall that Bomber Thompson intentionally played Ablett/Kelly/Bartel et al in the 2's so they could learn to dominate in a game, even though they were good enough in their early days to play support roles in the AFL side. Seemed to work in the long run.

Given our list as it stands, we can afford to play the long game. (I reckon SDK's 'apprenticeship' indicates that line of thinking is still there)

 

[BlakeyNoFlakey]

The Cats have a history of making draftees serve an apprenticeship in the VFL before they regularly get into the AFL side. I don't see it any different here. He may get an odd game here and there, but a regular spot is still a few years away. Unless, of course, he shows he's a star, and it's impossible to keep him out.

Rebuilding clubs have to play these guys in their AFL team right away, but Geelong doesn't do that. They let the guy develop before exposing him to the rigors, speed, and mature bodies at the AFL level.

 

[geelong_crazy26]

He's behind them precisely BECAUSE he hasn't walked through the door yet. That's my point.

How will the coaches figure out if he's good enough to get a game ahead of more established players who have performed well on an AFL field like Parfitt and Miers? Because he can get a kick against a bunch of 65kg school kids? LOL, how do you reckon Parfitt would've gone in the U18 Champs this year as a 23yo with over 100 senior AFL games under his belt? He probably would've averaged 50 touches and about 250 ranking points. We all like to get excited about gun juniors, but don't forget that the gulf between U18 footy and senior AFL footy is HUGE.

Sh*t clubs might give kids games ahead of more established quality players based on their junior reputation, but the Cats aren't a sh*t club. We're the reigning premier, the best run club in the comp, and we have serious depth on our list. We have 22 premiership players, and a roll call of quality lining up to try to break in including Holmes, Menegola, Bowes, Bruhn, O Henry, Ceglar, Ratugolea, Simpson and a bunch of kids who have already been on the list a year or two and are also raring for a shot. No 18yo kid, no matter how good he was at junior level, should be walking into that team just because he was a decent junior. If he gets a game, he earns it with what he does AT THE CLUB.

And right now, unlike Parfitt & Miers, he has zero points in the bank at the club. Zero. Parfitt & Miers on the other hand both have multiple preseasons under their belts, almost 200 AFL games between them, are premiership players, and have both shown the ability to have a strong impact at senior AFL level. They're also both just hitting their prime. To say that some kid who hasn't even had his first training session is NOT starting from behind them is frankly offensive to them.

Look, as I said, that doesn't mean Clark can't go past both of them fairly quickly if he does turn out to be a star. Exceptional performance on the track over summer will definitely help. A few stand out efforts at VFL level against mature bodies will help even more. If Parfitt and/or Miers have a poor run of form that will help more again.

If we're hit by injuries during the preseason he might even get a game very early due to availability. But he has to put the runs on the board if he's gonna be picked ahead of proven players when they're fit.

I feel like you are not getting what i am saying or reading between the lines. Where am i saying based off junior form someone is going ahead of parfitt or miers? If he really impresses over the pre season with his form snd they judge him in higher regard to parfitt or miers (yes they can tell from pre season form).

Just to give you two recent examples of this happening at geelong, Duncan debuted rnd1 of 2010 season (his first year) after we won a flag in 2009. Our team was better back then with even more established multiple premiership stars than now.

Parfit himself recently debuted rnd1 of his first year and went on to play 15 games.

Max holmes debuted very early after only a few BOG games in the reserves.

It absolutely can happen if they think he is good enough over the pre season. Which is a wait and see space

 

[00VicWard001]

He's behind them precisely BECAUSE he hasn't walked through the door yet. That's my point.

How will the coaches figure out if he's good enough to get a game ahead of more established players who have performed well on an AFL field like Parfitt and Miers? Because he can get a kick against a bunch of 65kg school kids? LOL, how do you reckon Parfitt would've gone in the U18 Champs this year as a 23yo with over 100 senior AFL games under his belt? He probably would've averaged 50 touches and about 250 ranking points. We all like to get excited about gun juniors, but don't forget that the gulf between U18 footy and senior AFL footy is HUGE.

Sh*t clubs might give kids games ahead of more established quality players based on their junior reputation, but the Cats aren't a sh*t club. We're the reigning premier, the best run club in the comp, and we have serious depth on our list. We have 22 premiership players, and a roll call of quality lining up to try to break in including Holmes, Menegola, Bowes, Bruhn, O Henry, Ceglar, Ratugolea, Simpson and a bunch of kids who have already been on the list a year or two and are also raring for a shot. No 18yo kid, no matter how good he was at junior level, should be walking into that team just because he was a decent junior. If he gets a game, he earns it with what he does AT THE CLUB.

And right now, unlike Parfitt & Miers, he has zero points in the bank at the club. Zero. Parfitt & Miers on the other hand both have multiple preseasons under their belts, almost 200 AFL games between them, are premiership players, and have both shown the ability to have a strong impact at senior AFL level. They're also both just hitting their prime. To say that some kid who hasn't even had his first training session is NOT starting from behind them is frankly offensive to them.

Look, as I said, that doesn't mean Clark can't go past both of them fairly quickly if he does turn out to be a star. Exceptional performance on the track over summer will definitely help. A few stand out efforts at VFL level against mature bodies will help even more. If Parfitt and/or Miers have a poor run of form that will help more again.

If we're hit by injuries during the preseason he might even get a game very early due to availability. But he has to put the runs on the board if he's gonna be picked ahead of proven players when they're fit.

We sort of have to give Bowes games (in the midfield) as he's had that discussion with the coaches prior to him coming. We wouldnt break our word. Bowes has also proven he's a bloody good player and he will do his part to be part of the team.

We don't have to give games to Bruhn or Henry as both came due to go-home factor and decent contracts - and they will have to displace incumbents to get a game. Which is fine - as their competition are premiership players and All-Australians.

We don't have to give games to Clark, a first year player as he has signed for 2 years at a club close to home and he is unlikely to leave.

It's not just good practise to train them in the VFL, but most of these players simply dont have the leverage to demand games UNLESS they show they deserve to be in the team.

 

[00VicWard001]

I feel like you are not getting what i am saying or reading between the lines. Where am i saying based off junior form someone is going ahead of parfitt or miers? If he really impresses over the pre season with his form snd they judge him in higher regard to parfitt or miers (yes they can tell from pre season form).

Just to give you two recent examples of this happening at geelong, Duncan debuted rnd1 of 2010 season (his first year) after we won a flag in 2009. Our team was better back then with even more established multiple premiership stars than now.

Parfit himself recently debuted rnd1 of his first year and went on to play 15 games.

Max holmes debuted very early after only a few BOG games in the reserves.

It absolutely can happen if they think he is good enough over the pre season. Which is a wait and see space

Reading both yours and Reg Hickey's arguments from the outside - I think you are both saying the same thing and then trying to convince each other

 

[geelong_crazy26]

Reading both yours and Reg Hickey's arguments from the outside - I think you are both saying the same thing and then trying to convince each other

Oddly I think we are saying the same thing too, I think reg is misunderstanding my end a bit trying to say I am hinting based off TAC cup games he should go ahead of parfitt or miers, which I have not said. I tried to reiterate that a bit clearer in my last post. Any rnd1 or early season appaearance or season appearance at all will be based off what occurs at the club. Nothing prior

 

[geelong_crazy26]

I recall that Bomber Thompson intentionally played Ablett/Kelly/Bartel et al in the 2's so they could learn to dominate in a game, even though they were good enough in their early days to play support roles in the AFL side. Seemed to work in the long run.

Given our list as it stands, we can afford to play the long game. (I reckon SDK's 'apprenticeship' indicates that line of thinking is still there)

Garry ablett jnr debuted rnd 1 of the 2002 season against essendon. Just for the record

 

[Sky]

I'm hoping Geelong cotton wools 14 for a year.

That leaves numbers 4, 12, 19, 21, 31, 36, 40 & 41 vacated this year to assign. I seem to remember Geelong giving the lowest available number to the first draft pick and then the next lowest to the next drafted and so on but I'm not too sure whether traded in players has screwed that around.

And totally agree with you, he is Jhye Clark, the first of his name....not sure if he is the King of the Andals and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, and Protector of the Realm yet

Give him 36 so we have two players to have hit 100 games in the number. Polinelli must’ve done it back in 1968

 

[Warhorse]

I don't see a good comparison with Serong. Serong has much much better forward craft for a start and is even better overhead (Jhye is strong in this area as well). Serong is much more explosive as well. It will be good to have another leader coming through the ranks

 

[Pure_Ownage]

It used to be the player who had played the most games ... Our first pick was assigned that number.

It was but in this case i think #14 is too significant to burden anyone with. Id retire #14 for now personally.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Also my #31 needs to come out of the cupboard where its been for like 6 years and be used. We need to stop giving #31 to late pick delistees...so clark should get #31 to honour the great jpod man

 

[Pollywaffle]

If we're hit by injuries during the preseason he might even get a game very early due to availability. But he has to put the runs on the board if he's gonna be picked ahead of proven players when they're fit.

We will probably see more of a ‘squad mentality’ in the next few years with quality younger guys pushing for game time and probably getting exposure and the older ‘use by date approaching‘ types given lighter run ups to (hopefully) pointy end action.
The younger guys will still have to push to become part of the final 22 though with experienced players having the runs on the board.

 

[Sire of Claude]

In his interview with Twomey Wells noted that we were lucky with injuries this year. Next season might be different.

Meanwhile the following will be hoping - stress hoping in some cases - ,and in some cases expecting, to get AFL time;

Mids/flankers - Willis, Whyte, Knevitt, Bruhn, Clark, Bowes, Dempsey, Parfitt, Mullin, Holmes, Kroeger - before we get to 'regulars' Danger, Atkins, Guthrie, Duncan, Close and Mieirs;

Then we have Neale, O Henry and Conway hoping and probably expecting to get games on the ball and up forward.

I haven't even got to our draft pick tonight (probably a speculative tall) and rookies.

Managing all these careers and expectations, while winning the flag, will be quite a challenge. I'm looking forward to it.

.

 

[BlakeyNoFlakey]

Draft | Jhye Clark Interview

Hear from Jhye Clark after he found out he will be joining the Geelong Cats in season 2023. Presented by Morgan Stanley

www.geelongcats.com.au