Delisted #37: Dylan Clarke - End of the road, will not be offered a list spot in 2022

[Lore]

Contract Status: Not offered a contract for 2021
Last Game Played: Round 23, 2021 (omitted)
Injury Status: n/a

 

[Lore]

 

[ghostdog]

Good luck, Clarkey. Hopefully you get picked up by another club and can play at AFL level. Good luck tagging Darcy.

 

[ant555]

Feel for him as the kid can play. Sadly his ball drop could not be fixed to a level where he could be consistent at the top level.

 

[JT_the_Man]

Thanks Dyl. One of my favs tbh, love the way he goes about it.

Rumour has it Patrick Cripps

9

Patrick Cripps

Age

29

Ht

195cm

Wt

93kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

25.9

5star

K

9.8

4star

HB

16.1

5star

M

3.4

3star

T

5.8

5star

CL

7.4

5star

D

21.0

5star

K

10.1

4star

HB

10.9

5star

M

2.5

3star

T

3.8

4star

CL

6.3

5star

D

12.6

4star

K

4.8

2star

HB

7.8

5star

M

2.0

3star

T

3.2

5star

CL

1.4

4star

still lives in his back pocket.

 

[Don Won]

The one hope might be as a Covid top up. Hopefully goes to our VFL team.

 

[westking]

My biggest memory of Dylan will be a game he played at the MCG one night. I was sitting with my two boys near the Essendon bench. It was late in the 4th, the game was won and Dylan came to the bench. As he walked the boundary line, you could tell he spent a little extra time soaking up the moment. Looking into the crowd, back to the game, then back into the crowd. 24 games at AFL is something to be pretty proud of. I hope he gets more.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Had a good crack, thought he applied himself.

But the right call ultimately, he wasn’t up to it.

One of the hallmarks of our club over the past two decades of garbage has been limited players who clearly weren’t good enough getting too long on the list. 5, 6, 7, 8 year careers.

We’ve made some improvements in that area and this decision is in line with that.

Best of luck to him, he can still have a very enjoyable footy career at a lower level and is young enough to set himself on a different career course.

Oh and he played a big role in getting a Carlolton coach sacked, we’ll always have that

 

[Bjchan13]

He's unlucky in my opinion. I thought he shouldve played in the elim final. Could've used his strength around the ball in the wet, and he was also good against the dogs a month earlier. But anyway, he got the best out of himself, was always in top condition and always gave everything he had on field. Played in 12 wins, 1 draw, 11 losses.

 

[andleanback]

Never forget

 

[Duckworth]

I really like Clarke and wanted him to make it. He was everywhere in the intra-club game. The scrappy kicking from everyone made his kicking look OK for a bit. I thought he should have tried hitting some leads into the forward line, rather than safe lofted kicks. I guess the club has decided that he has reached the ceiling on where can get to at the elite level without a good enough kick.
Others may disagree, but I think he improved over his time at the club (the first VFL games had some shockers).+

I don't really get how you cannot improve a technique of dropping a ball over 4 years to a good standard. If you can retrain someone how to run (or teach an Irish recruit all the skills from scratch), there must be some way to fix a technical flaw learned in junior footy.

As others have said, would be good in the VFL side, maybe even captain. Should give himself amnesia and relearn how to kick then have another crack at it.

 

[Schnitzengruben]

Goodnight, Sweet Prince.

 

[owen87]

I don't really get how you cannot improve a technique of dropping a ball over 4 years to a good standard. If you can retrain someone how to run (or teach an Irish recruit all the skills from scratch), there must be some way to fix a technical flaw learned in junior footy.

Pretty sure ant has talked about this previously; basically under pressure players revert back to what they instinctively know is the summary version of what he said he'd learned over the years watching the draft prospects.

Once he'd had a decade of the ball drop built in, it was always going to come back out when under pressure.

His set shot kicking was 'ok' enough up forward, which showed he had worked on it, but just couldn't get the flawed technique out under pressure. Jobe and Hooker were never great kicks, but they didn't have mechanics as inherently bad as Clarke so they could work on their decision making to compensate.

Most of the Irish guys have good kicking mechanics when they come across, and guys who come in late and are taught the skills late, don't have that instinctive fall-back technique because they simply didn't have anything there.

Running is different again, as usually that's retraining the muscle recruitment patterns to engage them in the correct order, or you're building up strength in the stabilising muscles, that once it's there it doesn't go away.

Clarke by all appearances and accounts worked his ass off to make it, so he gave himself every chance of a longer AFL career. I hope he sticks around the VFL side but can understand he might go elsewhere to try his luck at a different side.

 

[Mr Mojo Risin]

I really like Clarke and wanted him to make it. He was everywhere in the intra-club game. The scrappy kicking from everyone made his kicking look OK for a bit. I thought he should have tried hitting some leads into the forward line, rather than safe lofted kicks. I guess the club has decided that he has reached the ceiling on where can get to at the elite level without a good enough kick.
Others may disagree, but I think he improved over his time at the club (the first VFL games had some shockers).+

I don't really get how you cannot improve a technique of dropping a ball over 4 years to a good standard. If you can retrain someone how to run (or teach an Irish recruit all the skills from scratch), there must be some way to fix a technical flaw learned in junior footy.

As others have said, would be good in the VFL side, maybe even captain. Should give himself amnesia and relearn how to kick then have another crack at it.

Muscle memory is a bitch. Once bad habits are ingrained they are much harder to retrain than a clean slate like an Irish player.

 

[bombreys]

A bit rough, I think.

I feel like he's better than a handful of others on the list.

 

[owen87]

A bit rough, I think.

I feel like he's better than a handful of others on the list.

How many of them are clearly not going to make the Best-22 in the future, and are out of contract?

Gleeson was capable of best-22 football <somewhere> but still got delisted, it's good for the club to be in a position to be delisting guys who've been pretty close to the level, means we've got some depth of talent for the first time in a white.

 

[boncer34]

His kicking wasn't good enough. Everything else was decent but if you can't kick at a decent standard you won't make it at this level unless you're a KPP.

 

[Runk]

Prob a couple of teams that could use him too. He'd be in the best 22 at North.

 

[Seb78]

All the best Dyl, really liked his endeavour and to willingness in the contest. A shame his footskills weren't quite where the needed to be. Reckon he'll get another crack with another club at mid season draft.

 

[bombreys]

How many of them are clearly not going to make the Best-22 in the future, and are out of contract?

Gleeson was capable of best-22 football <somewhere> but still got delisted, it's good for the club to be in a position to be delisting guys who've been pretty close to the level, means we've got some depth of talent for the first time in a white.

I'd much rather Clarke on the list than guys like Cutler & Ham.

 

[owen87]

I'd much rather Clarke on the list than guys like Cutler & Ham.

Reasonable chance neither are on the list come this time next year once they're actually out of contract.

 

[Milanista28]

I'd much rather Clarke on the list than guys like Cutler & Ham.

Not sure why Ham gets so much hate, good kick, speed, runs hard and can finish in front of goal.

 

[Chucks]

Thanks Dyl. You can't knock him, 24 games at the elite level is something most would dream of - and we've got the memories of him giving Carlton a bath amongst a few others!

 

[Don Won]

I'd much rather Clarke on the list than guys like Cutler & Ham.

If you could combine Clarkes ball hunting and contested work with Cutler or Ham's kicking you would have a very good footballer.

It's tough that he couldn't make it, he was everywhere in that last practice match.

 

[Chief Hopper]

I remember how great Dylan as a tagging Cripps and another time O'Meara out of the game.

Goes to show how competitive our midfield stock is getting.

 

[ghostdog]

How many of them are clearly not going to make the Best-22 in the future, and are out of contract?

Gleeson was capable of best-22 football <somewhere> but still got delisted, it's good for the club to be in a position to be delisting guys who've been pretty close to the level, means we've got some depth of talent for the first time in a white.

I agree with this sentiment. I was all over Cutler a couple of years ago because I thought he was a squib who couldn't kick, but he's taken his game to another level where, from week to week, it might not be as certain that he's not in the best 22, or that he won't be next week. Clarkey just couldn't reinvent himself.