Door remains open to Jeremy Clayton next year

[one-eyed]

 Not yet right for AFL, says Clayton
By ANDREW CAPEL
Adelaide Advertiser
12dec05

MAGAREY Medallist Jeremy Clayton has just made the toughest decision of his life by turning down the chance to revive the AFL career he so desperately wants.

Guaranteed by Richmond that he would be selected with the No. 5 pick at tomorrow's pre-season draft, Clayton last week told the Tigers his damaged body wasn't yet up to the demands of AFL football.

Three months after rupturing his spleen - and losing two litres of blood - in the Port Adelaide Magpies' SANFL qualifying final win against Woodville-West Torrens, Clayton is still feeling the effects of the shocking injury.

He is well on the road to recovery - his doctor last week gave him the all-clear to resume full contact training - but aerobically he is at just 60 per cent of his capacity. He has been told it could be another six months before he regains the endurance he had before his injury, sustained in a fair bump from Mark Passador.

"It's terribly disappointing but I had to be honest with Richmond," Clayton, 24, said from Melbourne yesterday. "They've been good to me and I had to be fair to them and I didn't want to go to the AFL under these circumstances, not be fit to play, stuff up and blow my last chance at it."

Diminutive rover Clayton, who played nine games with the Kangaroos in 2003-04 before being delisted and joining the Magpies last season, had been talking to Richmond since the SANFL finals in September.

After the national draft, the Tigers - largely through the influence of assistant coach David King - decided they would take a punt on Clayton, despite his small 175cm, 78kg frame. King is a big admirer of the ball magnet, having played with him at the Kangaroos.

"I would have loved to have been re-drafted but my body's still not right so I had to ring them and tell them that they can't be babying a (soon-to-be) 25-year-old," said Clayton, who won this year's Magarey in his first season in the SANFL.

"It was a tough call - probably the toughest I've had to make - but I had to be honest with them. And the last thing you want to do is do the wrong thing by a bloke who has been trying to look after you (King)."

Clayton has been training with Port since pre-season work began three weeks ago. He has been doing all the running and ball work and says he feels okay. The tell-tale sign of his struggles however is his endurance running. Instead of finishing among the main group - as he always has - he is labouring.

"I've been running out of gas," Clayton conceded, adding he was on track to play in the opening round of the SANFL next season but that he wouldn't be able to do full AFL training. "Where I can be (fitness-wise) and where I am at the moment are worlds apart."

Clayton, who had an 8cm split in his spleen, is of the understanding that because his spleen is still recovering, his blood oxygen levels are down, resulting in less endurance.

After Clayton's revelation, Richmond decided it would bypass the pre-season draft and instead focus on securing four rookies at the rookie draft.

"(Richmond coach) Terry Wallace said that age is no barrier to me and that if I have a good season I'd be a good chance of being taken next year," Clayton said. "As much as I would have loved to have gone this year, at the end of the day I'm sure it would have turned sour, so I'm pretty confident I made the right decision."

http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/footy/story_page/0,8747,17535318%255E25397,00.html

[Razorblade]

Sounds like we're drafting "friends of the coaching panel" again ala Brittian/Fletcher! 

[letsgetiton!]

i say we pick him at 5 and take the risk, he will be cheap and in six months be "cherry ripe" lol

[mightytiges]

Paul Thomas IIRC was the Magarey medallist the year before and the bombers picked him up then delisted him after only a one year. The needs to have the pace, as well as the footy skills, to play AFL otherwise we'd wasting our time (and money).

[Razorblade]

Thomas shouldn't have been delisted though, never given a fair go by the Dons!

Don't know about Clayton, a bit small for my liking!

[one-eyed]

Jeremy Clayton, who we almost picked up in the PSD but bypassed because he copped an injury to his spleen, played in the opening round of the SANFL and racked 35 possies according to the Advertiser. He's small but if he keeps this form up we could consider him again in the 2006 PSD or a late National draft pick.

While most would take several weeks to regain confidence after such a serious incident, Clayton wasted no time in producing the same eye-catching form which earned him the 2005 Magarey Medal.

With 35 possessions, 11 marks, three tackles and 1.1, the brilliant Magpie was awarded The Advertiser Player of the Week Award for round one.

And it seems West Adelaide was the first team to find out the hard way that nothing has changed with the former Kangaroos midfielder in 2006. "I can't change the way I play. It's just built into you," Clayton, an SANFL representative in 2005, said.

[bluey_21]

Thomas shouldn't have been delisted though, never given a fair go by the Dons!

Don't know about Clayton, a bit small for my liking!

Thomas was super-impressive in the SANFL and was rewarded with the Magarery medal.

[one-eyed]

CLAYTON'S STILL SA's STANDOUT
The Adelaide Advertiser/sanfl.com.au

He's a courageous, instinctive footballer and a Magarey Medallist but it is Jeremy Clayton's standout form that has him rated the SANFL's most lethal player in 2006.

The Port Adelaide Magpies rover has averaged 35 disposals and three tackles in the first two rounds of the season, dispelling any suggestion of him easing up.

The former Kangaroos on-baller - who won four consecutive club championships at North Ballarat and Port Melbourne before being lured to Alberton last year - had his spleen ruptured against the Eagles in last year's finals series. Obviously he has lost none of his fearless flair.

Terrier-like Clayton's ability to get clear in the crunches and a willingness to tackle underlines his multi-value in the born-again Maggies midfield.

http://sanfl.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&aid=105025

[one-eyed]

Whether Clayton can make it in the AFL is another question but he's killing them in the SANFL. Another 37 possies and 3 goals.

Clayton just can't be stopped
By ZAC MILBANK
08may06

....

If it wasn't for Port's ability to hang tough during the first three terms, its barnstorming finish would not have been possible. The Magpies had remained within reach of the Eagles chiefly through the brilliance of Jeremy Clayton.

The clear favourite for the Magarey Medal, who could have polled maximum votes from all four games he has played in this year, was again outstanding for the entire afternoon, chalking up 37 possessions and three goals. However, his influence was helped along by ruckman James Meiklejohn, who played his best game for the club just when the Magpies needed him most.

http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/footy/story_page/0,8747,19059002%255E21546,00.html