That meant the Queenscliff product’s only path back to the AFL in September was to do it at training. He set about convincing the coaches that he deserved another shot, with assistant coach Steven King – Melbourne’s new senior coach – pushing Clark’s case to Chris Scott.
Clark forced his way in for Geelong’s qualifying final win over Brisbane, as the substitute again, but only snuck onto the MCG for the last few minutes.
Clark has overcome two concussions this year and being dropped three times.Credit: Getty Images
His next opportunity a fortnight later, with a grand final spot on the line against Hawthorn, came far earlier. Star defender Tom Stewart’s concussion just before quarter-time thrust Clark into action – and with major responsibility.
Clark responded with 14 disposals and four clearances, prompting Scott to opine post-match that they might look back on his preliminary final performance as “a bit of an inflection point for Jhye”.
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“He trained the house down … and when the chance popped up a couple of weeks ago, he got a couple of minutes,” Scott said.
“But [in the preliminary final], when he got his chance early, he played – without being overconfident about it – the way we thought he would play, which is high praise indeed because that’s a big ask, off the amount of footy that he’s had in the last probably six weeks.
“[Development coach] Nigel Lappin does a great job with those guys, in particular. But this is the old ‘he-trained-his-way-into-the-team’ situation.”
Nothing that happened on Friday night, including the kind words that flowed afterwards, were enough to make Clark feel assured about keeping his spot for the grand final.
His hard-earned path to the Cats’ senior side has taught him that.
“You have some tough times when you’re jealous you’re not playing, but you’ve got to snap out of that mindset really quickly, and just be happy for the boys who are playing,” Clark said.
“We’re in the grand final, so we’re top two in the comp, and you’ve got to keep fighting for your spot. There are no guarantees. There are so many young boys pushing for a spot, and hopefully Rhys [Stanley] comes back in. I’ll be happy however it pans out.”
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