Geelong youngster Jordan Clark has shown “significant improvement” over the pre-season in his bid for more playing time in 2021, according to assistant coach Matthew Knights.
Clark stood out in the Cats’ seven-point win over Essendon in the AAMI Community Series, finishing with 29 disposals and a goal playing on a wing.
The 20-year-old made just three senior appearances last year due to shoulder problems after bursting onto the scene in his debut season in 2019.
As a result of being on the fringes at times during 2020, Clark’s name was mentioned in trade circles with a return to his home state of Western Australia mooted as a possibility for the first-round draft pick.
Speaking after last Saturday night’s win over the Bombers, Knights stopped short of guaranteeing Clark a Round 1 berth.
“I think Jordan’s made significant improvement in the pre-season,” he told reporters.
“He’s really developed different parts of his game which is a credit to him, and he did some things tonight (Saturday) that were very good.
“He’s still got some areas to work on, like a lot of our young players and even senior players, but he’s certainly improving as a player and he’s giving himself a chance to be up for selection in Round 1.
“But that’s yet to be decided. You’re still there with 26 tonight and it’s a bit of false economy. It’s gets down to 22 pretty quickly.
“We might have some players coming back into that line-up also.”
The Cats open their 2021 campaign against the Adelaide Crows at Adelaide Oval on March 20.