Rising Albany star Jordan Clark humbled by praise from current Geelong captain Joel Selwood on his leadership qualities

Rising Geelong star Jordan Clark says he is humbled by Joel Selwood’s suggestion that he is a future captain of the club. The dashing defender turned wingman said he had worked hard to develop a close relationship with triple premiership Cat and current captain Selwood. Clark, a Railways product from the Great Southern, is in his second AFL season at age 19 and at the weekend was praised by 296-gamer Selwood as a draft steal and potential skipper. Selwood said last week that Clark was “a hell of a kid” and a real find for the Cats, who drafted him with 15 in 2018. “We’re quite lucky that we got him in the draft, we thought he would’ve been gone (a lot earlier),” Selwood said. “He’s still quite raw but he’s got so much power in his body. He hasn’t played a hell of a lot of footy to the level that he needs to from a junior age because he was playing cricket and just decided late that he was good enough to be an AFL footballer. “He’s a favourite of mine and, to be honest, I think one day he’ll probably captain the Cats.” Having returned home to WA to be with family for six weeks during the coronavirus lockdown, Clark returned to Geelong last week and told the Advertiser this week he had special bond with Selwood. “I didn’t read too much into it,” Clark said. “They are nice words to hear but something like that is a long way away. “I’m focused on being the best player I can for the team and being the best teammate so I don’t take much note of those things. “When you come into a club the first thing you do is put your head down and work, those relationships don’t come easy and you have to earn their respect. “Being one of the young boys and travelling a lot last year helped me get to know Joel and some of the older guys better. “As a 15-year-old kid I never thought I’d be this close to Joel Selwood so its definitely a special bond for me.” Clark said he turned back to his former love, cricket, during the AFL suspension period. “I have been playing a bit of golf but I didn’t take my clubs home with me,” he said. “So I revisited cricket a bit actually with some mates Cooper Connolly and Nathan Hutchison. “We had a few nets, I bowled a few balls and had a hit.” Now living with teammates James Parsons and Jacob Kennerley, the talented West Aussie was eager to get back to playing. “Being home was a nice change, I trained with my brothers and friends who I used to play with that are at other clubs. “I trained with Joel (on Monday morning) and I’m itching to go, I really need that structure back.” Clark had a sparkling maiden campaign at the Cats, playing 18 games after making his debut in the opening round blockbuster against Collingwood at the MCG.