World Footy News

World Footy News has covered the journey of Irish import Martin Clarke since his transition was first rumoured last year. It was today speculated in a Real Footy article that he could become the fastest of the Gaelic converts to a senior list and to a fully fledged AFL match.

After recent good form with Williamstown, and a spot opening up on the senior list with Chris Egan being injured, he will be considered to be promoted from the rookie list to take that spot. Clarke’s ability to run hard, find the ball and quickly learn the skills particular to Aussie Rules have seen him move from an experiment for Collingwood to a genuine chance to become an AFL footballer in a very short time.

He has plenty of support from his team-mates with Nathan Buckley often seen speaking to Clarke during breaks in Williamstown games providing extra instruction.

With the progress of both Clarke and Begley in the last two years, the big questions are who is next and which club will get them?

Editor: And are some AFL clubs putting themselves at a disadvantage by not being in the race for such new talent that can effectively be obtained from outside of the draft?