FORMER AFL star Marty Clarke made his Australian Rules Football League of Ireland debut on Saturday last at the Belfast Carnival.
Lining out for Galway Magpies, he was impressive in helping the Pies to their first ever away win against the Belfast Redbacks.
Wearing his most recent Collingwood guernsey and Down shorts, he looked fit and strong. The Pies beat the Redbacks by 17 points before overturning the South Dublin Swans by four points in an exciting second game.
Clarke, who started his career as a star underage Gaelic footballer for Down, first went to Collingwood in 2007 and impressed from the start.
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He earned a nomination in the NAB AFL Rising Star award in just his second ever AFL game having scored three goals against Hawthorn.
At his best, Clarke was one of the AFL’s brightest young hopes. In his debut season 2007 he helped Collingwood to finals before narrowly losing a famous Preliminary Final to Geelong.
He returned to Ireland at the end of the 2009 season citing his desire to return home and to play Gaelic football.
In 2010 he was a star performer for Down as they got to the All-Ireland final, a game they lost to Cork by just one point. Clarke was recognised for his efforts with an All-Star award that year.
Clarke returned to Collingwood at the start of preseason in October 2011 and played three more years with the Pies. However a condition called Addison’s disease, which stops the adrenal glands from producing hormones and leads to chronic fatigue, cut his AFL career short.
In total Clarke played 73 games for Collingwood over two three-year stints.
The An Riocht clubman, who is now a student at Queen’s University Belfast, played in midfield for the Galway Magpies in Belfast and his game sense and accurate passing and goal kicking were impressive.
Clarke, who played Sigerson Cup Gaelic football for Queen’s this year, is a potentially exciting addition to the Irish Warriors Aussie Rules team for the 2017 AFL International Cup in Melbourne next August.
