Defender Jesse Clark is set to reach his 50 games milestone when he runs out in Saturday’s Preliminary Final clash against the Brisbane Lions at Avalon Airport Oval.

Playing career best football this 2024 season, Clark’s 19th appearance of the season will be his 50th career game in Werribee’s biggest clash of the year with a Grand Final spot on the line.

Clark joined Werribee for the 2020 VFL season after an outstanding 2019 in the NAB League with the Geelong Falcons, where he won the club best and fairest  and served as co-captain, in a leadership group that included his current Werribee teammate Jay Dahlhaus. Unfortunately the COVID-19 pandemic meant that Clark missed out on hitting the playing field in his debut season, with the VFL season being cancelled.

When VFL football returned in 2021, Clark made an immediate impact, earning his debut in Werribee’s Round 1 clash with Collingwood. Club life member and former coach Simon Atkins presented him with his guernsey, and Clark took to the field debuting alongside fellow future 50-gamers Nathan Cooper, Nick Hayes, and close friend Jay Dahlhaus.

Coach Michael Barlow got an impressive 13 disposals and seven marks from Clark on debut, and the defender never looked back, being selected for all nine games of the 2021 season, before that campaign too was shut down because of COVID-19.

Speaking midway through his debut campaign, Jesse shared his love for the club: “I’ve absolutely loved it." He added, “Werribee were so warm and welcoming right from the get-go, which made it a really easy decision.”

Clark’s debut season was capped by the defender being awarded best first year player for the club, and polling in the top ten of the best-and-fairest.

The defender began the 2022 season in Werribee’s Round 1 side once again, however an ACL injury suffered in round five against Carlton, and full knee reconstruction ruled him out for the remainder of the season.

The club re-signed Clark for the 2023 season, with Football Manager Mark Micallef commending him as an “outstanding young leader.”

Clark returned for Werribee’s Round 1 clash with Brisbane to kick off the 2023 season, a season where he was named to head up the development group leadership team. An honour he spoke highly of; “I was lucky enough to get voted in as the leader of the development group, and basically it’s built a bit of a platform for me in terms of taking my leadership to the next level”.

Having managed just 13 games since being recruited to Werribee, Clark played 18 games in the Grand Final year, and reflecting back on the season, stated that “Last season I was pretty happy to be back out playing” and added, that “it was awesome given the season prior I ruptured my ACL and had a knee reconstruction”.

Clark was inducted into the leadership group ahead of this season, and has come out playing career-best football this season, averaging 15 disposals and seven marks. In Round 13, Clark brought up new career highs with a 26 disposal and 14 mark game against Williamstown, and kicked his first career goal one round later in his 42nd game.