Jump to content

Story of a former Demon ...

Hulett Packard III
in Melbourne Demons

Featured Replies

Posted

BIG NORMIE CLARKE - Courtesy of the Frankston Standard [Reported by Paul Amy]

THE chant goes up at every home game.

"Normie, Normie, Normie,'' sing the Frankston supporters who congregate on the terraces, serenading the Dolphins' great ruckman, Daniel "Norm'' Clarke.

The big man's every deed is met with applause and when he ambles to the bench for a breather, he receives a hand of encouragement.

The fans will be in full voice at Kars St this Sunday when Clarke plays his 200th senior game for Frankston, another milestone in a marvellous career.

He will be the first Dolphin to reach a double century of games and the 44th in the annals of the VFA/VFL.

Not only has he played the most matches for the Dollies, but he's kicked the most goals. He was a state player in 1996 and a team-of-the-year selection in 1999.

THE chant goes up at every home game.

"Normie, Normie, Normie,'' sing the Frankston supporters who congregate on the terraces, serenading the Dolphins' great ruckman, Daniel "Norm'' Clarke.

The big man's every deed is met with applause and when he ambles to the bench for a breather, he receives a hand of encouragement.

The fans will be in full voice at Kars St this Sunday when Clarke plays his 200th senior game for Frankston, another milestone in a marvellous career.

He will be the first Dolphin to reach a double century of games and the 44th in the annals of the VFA/VFL.

Not only has he played the most matches for the Dollies, but he's kicked the most goals. He was a state player in 1996 and a team-of-the-year selection in 1999.

But there is far more to his contribution than a list of his records and achievements.

Clarke has never captained the club -- it seems ridiculous now that Craig Clark was made skipper in 2003 -- but for years he's been an unofficial leader, a companiable big man who brings people together.

Nip into the Frankston rooms before a game and you'll hear him yapping instructions, summing up what needs to be done.

The other players look up to him, and not only because he's 205cm tall.

"I'm like a grandfather figure to the other guys,'' he quipped last Wednesday.

Coach Brett Lovett said the Frankston players voted on the leadership group and in the past three years all 55 players had asked for Clarke to be included.

"They love him,'' he said."He's got a hell of a lot of respect, the big fella.''

After three years at Melbourne in which he failed to play a senior game, Clarke joined Frankston in 1996, the year it made the grand final under David Rhys-Jones.

All of his teammates from that side are long gone. Indeed, from the whole competition, only Clarke and Sandringham's Nick Sautner remain (and in 1996 Sautner played only a few reserves games for Springvale).

Told that his former ruckman was on the verge of 200 games, Rhys-Jones said: "Geez, is he? The big fella, hey? That shows you how time flies. He's done a good job, hasn't he?''

He said Clarke was unlucky to miss out on a second chance at AFL level. "He was one who I thought could have played AFL footy.'' But time stakes its claim and Clarke, playing in the shadow of man mountain Ash Eames, struggled towards the end of last year.

In the off-season Lovett decided he would use his old stager more as a forward, where his long arms have often stretched defences.

Early in the season he was battling. "I reckon I was hanging on by a thread. I was close to being dropped, I reckon,'' Clarke said. "There wasn't much point having me in the team if I was kicking a few goals.''

But with Eames going down with a broken leg and Chris Oliver going down to the reserves, Clarke was back as the number one ruckman against Port Melbourne last week.

He had 16 possessions in the first half and was named best.

A few weeks ago Carlton assistant coach Gavin Crosisca was at Kars St watching the Northern Bullants and remarked what a wonderful player "big Clarkey'' had been in the VFL.

He was happy to repeat his comments for the record, highlighting that Clarke was a part-time footballer who most weeks came up against AFL players training 30 hours a week.

Lovett said that when Clarke arrived at the club, he was battling back and hamstring injuries and there were whispers that he was "on the way out''.

"Here he is, what, five years down the track, still playing well,'' Lovett said.

"He's got a massive heart, Normie.''

  • Quote
    •  

    Archived

    This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

    Go to topic listing

    Featured Content

    • PREVIEW: Gold Coast

      The Gold Coast Suns find themselves outside of the top eight for the first time since Round 1 with pressure is mounting on the entire organisation. Their coach Damien Hardwick expressed his frustration at his team’s condition last week by making a middle-finger gesture on television that earned him a fine for his troubles. He showed his desperation by claiming that Fox should pick up the tab.  There’s little doubt the Suns have shown improvement in 2025, and their position on the ladder is influenced to some extent by having played fewer games than their rivals for a playoff role at the end of the season, courtesy of the disruption caused by Cyclone Alfred in March.  However, they are following the same trajectory that hindered the club in past years whenever they appeared to be nearing their potential. As a consequence, that Hardwick gesture should be considered as more than a mere behavioral lapse. It’s a distress signal that does not bode well for the Queenslanders. While the Suns are eager to remain in contention with the top eight, Melbourne faces its own crisis, which is similarly deep-seated but in a much different way. After recovering from a disappointing start to the season and nearing a return to respectability among its peer clubs, the Demons have experienced a decline in status, driven by the fact that while their form has been reasonable (see their performance against the ladder leader in the Kings Birthday match), their conversion in front of goal is poor enough to rank last in the competition. Furthermore, their opponents find them exceptionally easy to score against. As a result, they have effectively eliminated themselves from the finals race and are again positioned to finish in the bottom half of the ladder.

      • 1 reply
      Demonland

    • NON-MFC: Round 15

      As the Demons head into their Bye Round, it's time to turn our attention to the other matches being played. Which teams are you tipping this week? And which results would be most favourable for the Demons if we can manage to turn our season around? Follow all the non-Melbourne games here and join the conversation as the ladder continues to take shape.

        • Clap
        • Haha
        • Love
        • Like
      • 276 replies
      Demonland

    • REPORT: Port Adelaide

      Of course, it’s not the backline, you might argue and you would probably be right. It’s the boot studder (do they still have them?), the midfield, the recruiting staff, the forward line, the kicking coach, the Board, the interchange bench, the supporters, the folk at Casey, the head coach and the club psychologist  It’s all of them and all of us for having expectations that were sufficiently high to have believed three weeks ago that a restoration of the Melbourne team to a position where we might still be in contention for a finals berth when the time for the midseason bye arrived. Now let’s look at what happened over the period of time since Melbourne overwhelmed the Sydney Swans at the MCG in late May when it kicked 8.2 to 5.3 in the final quarter (and that was after scoring 3.8 to two straight goals in the second term). 

      • 3 replies
      Demonland

    • CASEY: Essendon

      Casey’s unbeaten run was extended for at least another fortnight after the Demons overran a persistent Essendon line up by 29 points at ETU Stadium in Port Melbourne last night. After conceding the first goal of the evening, Casey went on a scoring spree from about ten minutes in, with five unanswered majors with its fleet of midsized runners headed by the much improved Paddy Cross who kicked two in quick succession and livewire Ricky Mentha who also kicked an early goal. Leading the charge was recruit of the year, Riley Bonner while Bailey Laurie continued his impressive vein of form. With Tom Campbell missing from the lineup, Will Verrall stepped up to the plate demonstrating his improvement under the veteran ruckman’s tutelage. The Demons were looking comfortable for much of the second quarter and held a 25-point lead until the Bombers struck back with two goals in the shadows of half time. On the other side of the main break their revival continued with first three goals of the half. Harry Sharp, who had been quiet scrambled in the Demons’ first score of the third term to bring the margin back to a single point at the 17 minute mark and the game became an arm-wrestle for the remainder of the quarter and into the final moments of the last.

      • 0 replies
      Demonland

    • PREGAME: Gold Coast

      The Demons have the Bye next week but then are on the road once again when they come up against the Gold Coast Suns on the Gold Coast in what could be a last ditch effort to salvage their season. Who comes in and who comes out?

      • 147 replies
      Demonland

    • PODCAST: Port Adelaide

      The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Monday, 16th June @ 8:00pm. Join Binman, George & I as we dissect the Dees disappointing loss to the Power.
      Your questions and comments are a huge part of our podcast so please post anything you want to ask or say below and we'll give you a shout out on the show.
      Listen LIVE: https://demonland.com/

      • 33 replies
      Demonland
    View All