Eli Clark, who grew up idolizing Ben Barba as a Canterbury Bulldogs fan, is now one of the team’s most promising young players after leaving Belmore Boys High School to teach.
The Bulldogs are always adding players to their roster in an effort to find the next wave of players, and as a result, their junior system has steadily improved to rank among the best in the league.
Mitchell Woods, Joe O’Neill, Alex Conti, and Damon Marshall are just a few of the players making steady progress through the club’s younger systems. However, in advance of their first matchup against the Parramatta Eels, Cameron Ciraldo and Stephen Crichton have developed an interest in an outside back.
Eli Clark, who moved from the Jersey Flegg Cup club, will make his NSW Cup debut on Saturday afternoon after playing a significant amount of minutes in the two trial matches in the centers.
“I’ve always been a Doggies fan since I can remember since I was about six years old when I first started playing footy so it’s pretty surreal to be at this club,” Clark stated to Zero Tackle.
“I watched every game growing up, so it’s inexplicable that I’m at this place now.
One (event) that stands out is when Benny Barba scored the try against Newcastle, as I recall.
“We’ve got a massive fan base here, and they’re all so passionate, and it’s really good.”
The Jersey Flegg Cup premiership winner for 2023 said that playing and rubbing shoulders with players he used to watch on television with his family during the preseason and trial matches was an unbelievable experience.
Recalling watching Crichton’s NRL debut, Clark intends to keep honing his skills and development by studying players like Crichton, Josh Addo-Carr, and Jacob Kiraz.
“I believe that my preseason went well. I’ve had an extremely knowledgeable pre-season, which has been really helpful for me. I’ve worked pretty hard and learnt a lot from Ciro and players like Critta, Kiraz, and Foxy,” he continued.
We’re all together for the first preseason and we’ve bonded incredibly well. I’ve learned so much from all of the boys (in the backs). It’s excellent.
“I want to be a complete player, and Stephen Crichton’s one of the most complete centres in the game, and to be able to learn off him, it’s unreal.”
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