History repeats for Sandringham Dragons AFL draft prospect Charlie Clarke

The Port Melbourne Colts teammates had become great mates and they had played enough football to know they would not experience many better wins.

The Colts had fallen 48 points behind in the second quarter of the 2006 Western Region league grand final but with virtually the last kick of the match, they defeated Hoppers Crossing by two points.

As they posed for a photograph on the Whitten Oval they hoisted their sons into their arms. Clarke with Charlie, aged two, and Caddy with Nate, one.

Sixteen years later, Clarke and Caddy are still tight and their boys are again side-by-side.

A few weeks ago they played together for a Vic Metro under-18 team against the AFL Victoria Young Guns at Werribee.

And last Saturday Charlie and Nate lined up for Vic Metro against WA in the national championships.

Nate Caddy, attached to the Northern Knights, is a bottom-age player, but already being promoted as a 2023 draft prospect.

Last week the Herald Sun named him in its top 25 hopes for next year, noting his “physical presence and contested ball-winning ability’’.

His time will come.

Clarke’s time is now; he is a top-ager with the Sandringham Dragons and his consistent season has club officials increasingly confident he can land at an AFL club in November.

His improvement in the past 18 months has been as sharp as the skills he shows as a midfielder and forward.

Clarke started the 2021 season by wearing the No.77 jumper and making his senior debut for Port Colts in the Southern league, against Oakleigh District.

Within 60 seconds he had the first goal of the match. Teammates came from everywhere to ruffle his close-cropped hair.

At that stage he was not on the Dragons’ books, despite having been a regular best-and-fairest as a junior player with South Melbourne Districts. He won a league medal too.

Former Dandenong Stingrays talent manager and AFL ruckman Darren Flanigan joined Colts last year as an assistant to senior coach Graeme Yeats, and he recommended the 17-year-old to the Dragons.

Already aware of Clarke, they took another look and liked what they saw in the 185cm youngster.

He was added to the list. Three weeks later he made his NAB League Boys debut, against the Oakleigh Chargers.

“That was pretty exciting, to be called up during the year,’’ Clarke says.

He has seized his opportunity. This season he’s averaging 20.4 disposals and has kicked 14 goals from eight matches, including a bag of seven against the Tassie Devils.

In his last outing for the Dragons he had 33 possessions and slotted two goals against the Western Jets.

AFL talent ambassador Kevin Sheehan calls him a “strong pressure player’’, highlighting his average of 4.1 tackles a game.

“I’ve played some good games, been pretty consistent,’’ Clarke says.

“I’ve just tried to rack up a few possessions, hit the scoreboard, get a few score involvements. I’m not done yet. Got a lot of work to do to get to where I want to be.’’

As for talk of the draft, he takes little notice of what’s written about him. It’s not really important, he says.

“It’s just opinions and I don’t want to get caught up in that sort of stuff. I’ll just let my footy do the talking,’’ Clarke says.

As he’s played for the Dragons and Vic Metro, Clarke has kept an eye on the Colts’ results.

His father was a big figure at the Port Melbourne club, playing in four premierships, serving as senior coach, kicking hundreds of goals and winning a Western Region best and fairest medal. Thirty years ago he was on the list at the Central Dragons (now the Sandringham Dragons).

Charlie grew up around the Colts.

“Lots of good memories there,’’ he says.

“Lots of memories of dad kicking bags. I watched him kick 16 one day against Glen Orden. Yeah, that was good. Watched him in a lot of grand finals, including a few losing grand finals, which was tough. We probably got robbed in one of them against ‘Spotty’ (Spotswood). But anyway. I think dad still has nightmares about that one.’’

Clarke says the club has played a “huge part’’ in his rise.

He was eligible for under-17 football last year, but preferred to try to break into the Port Colts’ Division 1 senior team.

“I really dedicated myself last year because I just wanted to play some consistent footy in the seniors, and I was playing with a very talented group, Marley Williams, who came straight from the AFL, Chris Deluca, Ricky Newton, Justin Taylor,’’ he says.

“They were really good role models.

“From there I think Graeme Yeats and Darren Flanigan pushed to get me here.

“In under-15s, under-16s, there was a St Kilda Next Generation program which leads to the Sandy Dragons, but my attitude probably wasn’t there at the time. I probably wasn’t taking it seriously enough. I ended up getting cut. Cam Field was the head coach of that and he told me what I needed to work on. That’s when the switch sort of flicked and I was like, ‘I know what I want to do’. I went away and did lots of training to get back here.’’

And here he is, a 2022 Vic Metro player.

Although their fathers have remained mates – they caught up for lunch last Friday – Charlie Clarke hadn’t had much to do with Nate Caddy, but they have got to know each other this year.

“When I got to that Vic Metro trial game, it was sort of like an instant connection, just through our dads,’’ Clarke says.

And here he is, a young working man playing in the NAB League Boys.

Clarke started a carpentry apprenticeship in August, 2020. He’s on the job three days a week, with his boss giving him time off during football season. Don’t worry, he makes up the hours over summer.

Clarke says school wasn’t for him.

“I’d rather be out working with my hands, not sitting in a classroom all day,’’ he says.

“We do everything. My boss is a builder. We do a bit of plumbing, a bit of excavating, everything. Good fun.’’

Just as Clarke appreciates his involvement at Port Melbourne Colts, he’s thankful for his upbringing in Port Melbourne.

“I grew up near the commission flats in Port (in Barak Rd). I lived there for eight years and that had a big influence on where I am today, because I was playing with my friends all the time and everyone was outside and always playing sport, always playing footy,’’ he says. 

Dragons Talent Manager Mark Wheeler on Charlie Clarke

“He’s a good story, isn’t he? He’s done a lot of work to put himself in this position. Give him all the credit for that. He’s got his running to a level where it’s elite and his fitness is the same. And he’s become one of those players who’s hard to play against. He’s got speed, he reads the ball and the game really well, great lateral movement, he’s good in the air, he can kick a goal. Having played that senior footy against the bigger bodies and some pretty tough characters makes him an unusual player in the NAB League. He’s a really respectful kid, always gives you the ‘please’ and ‘thank you’. Great kid, Charlie.’’