From the club website:
Subiaco has received a Christmas boost just ahead of the team’s two week Christmas break with Zac Clarke confirmed to play for Subiaco in 2018.
One of the most sought after signatures in the WAFL off-season, Clarke is set to be a welcome addition to the Subiaco side filling a need primarily in the ruck but also able to contribute on the scoreboard up forward.
Clarke was considered very unlucky to be delisted by Fremantle at the end of the 2017 season with the Dockers delisting Clarke after 101 games including playing in the Dockers sole 2013 Grand Final appearance.
Clarke played his last game for Fremantle late in the 2016 season while his last official game played was the 2016 WAFL Grand Final where he was a key part of Peel’s win over Subiaco, collecting 56 hitouts in the Grand Final.
An off-season knee injury following that 2016 Grand Final and subsequent surgery meant that Clarke ended up missing the entire 2017 season of footy, but feels his body is set to go for the 2018 season.
“The body feels great, the knee has really felt good for about six months now and I think some of my best footy is about to come,” Clarke said.
The decision to join Subiaco ultimately came down to the desire to get a second chance in the AFL for Clarke, with Subiaco’s proven ability to produce mature age draft picks a key factor in being able to win the race for the highly sought after recruit.
“I was pretty disappointed to be delisted and I am keen to have a strong season with Subiaco, show the body is healthy and get a second chance in the AFL,” Clarke said.
“Having played against Subiaco over the past few years I have really admired the professionalism of the club and being a part of such a professional environment will be best for my football next year.”
For Subiaco, securing a player of Clarke’s experience and talent at this point in the year was an added bonus for the 2018 season.
For senior coach Jarrad Schofield, it is that experience that is most crucial in bringing Clarke to the Lions.
“We are super excited to be able to add a 100 game AFL player, a player of Zac’s calibre and experience to our team for 2018 and we think his experience will be of great benefit to our club,” Schofield said.
“Our midfielders are looking forward to working with Zac and we as a club are very confident that he has plenty of good football ahead, starting with 2018 for the Lions.”
Outside of playing with Subiaco, Clarke remains committed to his studies, where he is completing a sports science degree at Notre Dame University continuing to set himself up for life after football.
As well as being involved within the professional environment provided by the Subiaco Football Club, Clarke also pointed to some key relationships that helped convince him that Subiaco would be the ideal place to play football in 2018.
“I have a few good relationships with the Subiaco boys and I’m looking forward to getting amongst the group,” Clarke said.
“Obviously I have played with Josh Deluca the past few years and I actually played basketball with Leigh Kitchin in under 12s back in Victoria so to play with him will be a great experience.
“He used to feed me the ball a bit back playing basketball, so hopefully I can return the favour and feed it down to him a few times in the middle next year.”
Subiaco’s senior squad had their final training session of 2017 yesterday and are set to return with their first training session of the new year on Monday January 8. Clarke will be one of the notable additions on the track when Subiaco first meet for 2018.
