Zachary Clarke (born 28 March 1990) is a former professional Australian rules footballer. He previously played for the Fremantle Football Club and Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Zac Clarke
Clarke playing for Fremantle in 2015
Personal information
Full name Zachary Clarke
Date of birth (1990-03-28) 28 March 1990 (age 34)
Original team(s) Oakleigh Chargers (TAC Cup)
Draft No. 37, 2008 national draft
Height 203 cm (6 ft 8 in)
Weight 96 kg (212 lb)
Position(s) Ruckman
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2009–2017 Fremantle 101 (46)
2009–2012 East Perth 46 (29)
2013–2016 Peel Thunder 20 (14)
2018, 2023 Subiaco 41 (38)
2019 Essendon 9 (0)
Total 110 (46)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2023.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Early life

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Clarke was born in Australia to an Australian mother and African-American father.[1][2] He grew up in Melbourne in Victoria playing basketball, a fan of Kevin Garnett and dreamt of playing in the NBA. He represented Victoria in the youth state championships and was organising trails with US clubs before moving to Perth, Western Australia at age 18 when he gave up basketball and transitioned Australian rules.[3]

AFL Career

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Clarke was drafted with the 37th selection in the 2008 AFL Draft after playing his first season of competitive football with the Oakleigh Chargers in the TAC Cup in 2008. He represented Victoria Metro at the 2008 AFL Under 18 Championships. At 203 cm, he had previously played basketball for the Nunawading Spectres and had hoped to play at a US College.[4] An athletic player with good endurance, he lived with Fremantle's first choice ruckman, 211 cm Aaron Sandilands when he first moved to Western Australia.[5] He attended Koonung Secondary College.

For the 2009 season, Clarke was allocated to play for East Perth Football Club in the West Australian Football League and after two impressive games was named in Fremantle's senior squad for their Round 3 match against Adelaide.[6] He eventually made his debut in the round 13 clash against Collingwood Football Club after averaging an impressive 16 hit outs in the WAFL.[7]

In round 20, 2011, following a strong performance against St Kilda, Clarke was nominated for the 2011 AFL Rising Star.[8]

Clarke was delisted by Fremantle at the conclusion of the 2017 season, having missed much of the past two seasons through injury.[9]

In November 2018, Clarke returned to AFL, joining Essendon via the newly implemented pre-season supplemental selection period.[10]

In October 2019, Clarke was delisted by Essendon after 9 games in the 2019 season.[11]

Statistics

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Statistics are correct to the end of the 2016 season[12]
Legend
  G  
Goals
  K  
Kicks
  D  
Disposals 
  T  
Tackles
  B  
Behinds 
  H  
Handballs 
  M  
Marks
H/O
Hit-outs
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T H/O G B K H D M T H/O
2009 Fremantle 30 5 0 0 9 36 45 8 10 35 0.0 0.0 1.8 7.2 9.0 1.6 2.0 7.0
2010 Fremantle 30 3 0 1 3 17 20 3 12 25 0.0 0.3 1.0 5.7 6.7 1.0 4.0 8.3
2011 Fremantle 30 13 6 6 62 115 177 42 68 172 0.5 0.5 4.8 8.8 13.6 3.2 5.2 13.2
2012 Fremantle 30 15 13 13 105 67 172 67 48 121 0.9 0.9 7.0 4.5 11.5 4.5 3.2 8.1
2013 Fremantle 30 17 8 3 84 142 226 68 57 355 0.5 0.2 4.9 8.4 13.3 4.0 3.4 20.9
2014 Fremantle 30 21 12 10 132 126 258 92 57 252 0.6 0.5 6.3 6.0 12.3 4.4 2.7 12.0
2015 Fremantle 30 14 7 2 73 75 148 57 28 162 0.5 0.1 5.2 5.4 10.6 4.1 2.0 11.6
2016 Fremantle 30 13 0 3 37 89 126 37 35 249 0.0 0.2 2.8 6.8 9.7 2.8 2.7 19.2
Career 101 46 38 505 667 1172 374 315 1371 0.5 0.4 5.0 6.6 11.6 3.7 3.1 13.6

References

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  1. ^ Zac Clarke answers your questions Aug 26, 2013
  2. ^ https://www.fremantlefc.com.au/news/715265/a-multicultural-freo A multicultural Freo] By Costa Kastanis on Jul 18, 2014
  3. ^ Zac's hoop dreams By Costa Kastanis on Jul 3, 2014
  4. ^ Pike, Chris; Clarke swaps hoop for sticks; 8 December 2008
  5. ^ Rickard, Jayne; Dockers show off their new recruits; The West Australian; 2 December 2008
  6. ^ Freo goes for youth; 10 March 2009
  7. ^ Schmook, Nathan (25 June 2009) Freo set for more debutants
  8. ^ Holmesby, Luke (9 August 2011). "Hoop dreams". AFL BigPond Network. Archived from the original on 5 April 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2011.
  9. ^ "Fremantle list update".
  10. ^ afl.com.au
  11. ^ "Dons make further list changes".
  12. ^ "Zac Clarke". AFL Tables.
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