After being starved of senior opportunities last year Geelong young gun ready to roll in round one

Albany rising star Jordan Clark will play in round one for Geelong after struggling for senior opportunities last year.

Cats coach Chris Scott declared Clark would feature in their opening fixture of the AFL season against the Adelaide Crows at Adelaide Oval on Saturday afternoon.

The Railways product impressed in the club’s recent pre-season win over Essendon, picking up 29 touches, 10 marks, and booting 1.2 in just three quarters of football and, according to Scott, has left the Cats’ match committee with little option but to select him for his 22nd career game.

“There is some real competition for spots and it’s a difficult team to pick,” Scott said.

“Jordan’s in his formative years, his best footy is a long way in front of him.

“He does have some attributes that we’d like to bring into our team.”

The 20-year-old had his 2019 season ended early due to an elbow injury before injuring his shoulder in his comeback game last season.

“He’s had multiple arm injuries that have really held back his physical development so he’s free from those issues now and has had a really good physical preparation,” Scott said.

“He came back in fantastic shape.

“It might not be that well known but he was more of a cricketer than a footballer before he came to us, he had never done an AFL pre-season until he came to us so that development after a few pre-seasons has really hit its straps in his third pre-season.”