When the team sheets were released on Thursday evening many supporters were surprised by the omission of young gun Jordan Clark.
Since being taken with pick 15 in the 2018 national draft, Clark has produced many moments of brilliance and become a fan favourite.
The 19-year-old has already featured in 19 games and made a name for himself as a dashing half back flanker.
Speaking to K rock Football prior to Friday night’s game, assistant coach Matthew Knights revealed that Clark was ‘stiff’ to miss.
“He was pretty stiff on both fronts, both on the backline and in the midfield,” Knights told K rock Football.
“We just went with an extra mid to allow us extra flexibility if we wanted to play a couple of them forward, particularly with Tom Atkins and Paddy (Dangerfield) and even (Brandan) Parfitt who can play in our front half a little.”
Despite missing Geelong’s Round 2 win, Clark is firmly in the mix to face the Blues.
Knights has high hopes for the Western Australian junior and believes he will develop into a really good AFL footballer.
“I have got Jordy Clark as just a player we need to keep coming on.”
“He is going to be quite good inside; he is a really good athlete on the outside and he has got a pretty good prodigious penetrating kick.
“He is going to get there, but sometimes it doesn’t hurt for a young player to have to work and really earn their next game and he is a bit in that space at the moment.”
“We have a lot of faith in Jordan that he is going to be a really good player for the football club.”
