“When St Kilda called my name out, it was almost a sense of relief, but an overwhelming feeling of excitement.”
St Kilda draftee Oscar Clavarino is only at the start of a journey he has dreamt about since a young child. And the Berwick local is desperate to not let anything stand in his way, as NICK CREELY discovers.
Bumping shoulders with some of the biggest names in the game, all with the quest of holding the premiership cup aloft at the MCG – welcome to the new life of St Kilda draftee Oscar Clavarino.
The 18-year-old Berwick boy was only recently drafted by the Saints with pick 35 in the National Draft, realizing a life-long dream after years of toiling with the Dandenong Stingrays and Haileybury College.
“It’s been awesome and been a pretty surreal experience so far and it’s now starting to become real, I guess,” Clavarino said about his first month as an AFL player.
“I still get that feeling of surrealism, but running around with guys like Josh Bruce, Seb Ross and Jack Newnes – guys you see so often on the TV – is really exciting.”
But while Clavarino steps up his intensity in training, the key defender explained that the step up between AFL and TAC Cup is difficult to adjust to at first despite years of education and training in preparing for the elite level, but his new club has made the transition a smooth process.
“Coming off the four or five week break from the combine, it’s been hard and you do see the shift in intensity from the TAC and school level, it’s just a different type of training, and everyone’s switched on all the time,” he said.
“They (coaches) have been really supportive – coming into the club, you sort of do the first year stuff, and all the boys get around us, so in that sense we feel welcome, so we definitely feel part of the team.”
But it was a nervous time for the youngster at the draft on 24 November, who may not have landed at his dream club after an interstate team showed considerable interest.
“It was a nervous time coming into it (the draft), not knowing where I’d be and where I’d go – to come to St Kilda, where mum’s been a supporter for so long, it’s probably the perfect situation, to be honest,” he said.
“I’ve said this to a few people, I’d heard West Coast were very keen on me, they liked me a fair bit, and they had four picks in the range so I thought I might go.
“I sort of got my head around the possibility of moving there, so I went into the night just excited as to where I might go.
“When St Kilda called my name out, it was almost a sense of relief, but an overwhelming feeling of excitement – I can’t really explain how I felt, and I burst into tears with pure joy, and to have the family around me was incredible.”
And only moments after being drafted, Saints star David Armitage popped in to his Berwick home to hand him his very first jumper, with cameras there to capture his reaction.
“It was exciting (having Armitage at his house) – I got a call from the media team saying they’d come out and present a jumper to me, but they didn’t mention anything about Armo coming and he turned up,” he said.
“It was a feeling that it was real at that point, and knowing I’d play with blokes like Armo, who I’d seen on TV for so long was just so exciting.”
And while Clavarino looks to learn his defensive craft from senior players such as Jake Carlisle, Nathan Brown and Sam Gilbert, he has leant on some of the club’s emerging talent, such as the defender with a famous name at the club.
“There is a still a bit of a pecking order, and I’ve sort of hung on to guys like Hugh Goddard, who is still a young player and gone through the same kind of thing – I’ve really gone to people like him for advice, or to ask a question,” he said.
“He’s probably someone that’s consistently helped me so far.”
While Clavarino is just looking to find his feet, he has been impressed with what he’s seen so far at the club in their pursuit of a finals appearance, but acknowledges that there is pressure, but the ‘noise’ is only coming from outside the four walls.
“It’s probably a time where the club will get a bit of pressure externally from the media, but inside the club there’s not that feeling at all, it’s more excitement,” he said.
“Guys like (Nick) Riewoldt and (Leigh) Montagna would have been great for the club because they have been for so long, but without them it’s a different feeling of youth and talent, and it’s exciting.
“I haven’t been there for that long, but from all reports, the club is in a really good space with how the boys are feeling on and off the field.
“We’re all looking forward to what’s to come for the club.”
But 2018 is still a year of learning, and while Clavarino would love to lock down a spot in the Saints’ back six, is realistic about not looking too far ahead.
“To be honest, I haven’t looked too far ahead to next year, I’ve just been working on getting into the club first, and earning the respect of the players I hope to be playing with for a very long time,” he said.
“I’m starting to set a few goals for the end of pre-season, so not a lot of talk has gone into I guess the season for next year just yet.”
Clavarino is confident that the other four draftees that have come into the club will all make an impact in 2018, and said his fellow Stingray graduate Hunter Clark is already a stand out at training.
“Hunter is someone I thought would come into an AFL environment pretty ready, and just to see him training with such talented guys without looking out of place, it’s just awesome to see,” he said.
“He’s fitted in so well, so credit to him.
“Nick (Coffield) and Ben (Paton) also look readymade for AFL – they’ve fitted in really well, and as a group of first year players, we’ve done a great job to find our feet and reach out to the rest of the team and engage with them a bit more.”
Clavarino is the third current St Kilda player living in Berwick, and said the club has been fantastic in allowing him to not only stay in his home town, and to also encourage him to pursue interests outside of the game.
“At the moment they’re comfortable with it (living in Berwick) – Josh Battle and Brandon White are also living in Berwick, and they’re handling it quite well,” he said.
“They’ve given me the choice, which is great for me.
“The club’s been supportive with that kind of thing (pursuing interests outside of the game), they pretty much make you do things outside of footy – there’s a program based around education, handling your money, working with children and clinics, so that’ll probably set me up for the first year while I get the hang of things.
“Hopefully I pursue something at university as well, which I’m really looking forward to.”
