HAWTHORN’S Tim Clarke has a closer link to former club skipper Richie Vandenberg than most players at Waverly. The 26-year-old is house-sitting while the retiree uses his spare time to travel the world. In fact the last time Clarke spoke to him, he was in Italy.
“He seems to be really enjoying himself,” Clarke says.
“I don’t get to hear from him much though, as a lot of the places he’s been too he hasn’t had access to email. He went on a safari so he was out of action for about six weeks there. He just rings to make sure the house is alright and has a quick chat about footy.”
And although Clarke says the former Hawk did not leave strict ground rules in relation to the house’s use, he insists that the Hawthorn abode has not become party central for post match soirées.
“We’re usually pretty quiet after games at Hawthorn. He’s said that I can do as I please with the house as long as I return it in better nick than when he left,” he laughs.
When Clarke is not in Hawthorn he likes to go home to Jan Juc and spend time with his family. Outside of football, he cites food and wine as two of his passions. Passions that he may even pursue professionally after his football days come to an end. He credits his mum for igniting his culinary infatuation.
“I wouldn’t say I’m a good cook but I enjoy cooking. My mum taught me how to cook when I was very young. My dad loves his cooking too so he gives me all his recipes. We’re constantly trying to out do each other. If I cook something new, he’ll cook it and try and do it better,” he jokes.
As for his love of wine, well that’s a relationship which is curbed by his professional sporting lifestyle. There is the occasional opportunity for the odd glass or so but in general Clarke must conform to professional methods of wine tasting in his bid to learn about the industry.
“The proper way to do tastings is to spit it out of course. That way, you get to learn something, and you can actually walk home afterwards,” he chuckles.
Food and wine are not the only post football avenues that Clarke is investigating. At the moment he’s taking time to figure out what it is he’d like to do when he eventually hangs up his boots.
“I’m going through the process right now of what I’d like to do when I finish football. Originally I thought I wanted to work in finance or stock broking. But I had a little bit of a change of heart last year so I’m a little unsure of what I want to do. So I’m using some people that I’ve met through football to talk about what they do. Just to see what is out there. Because as a footballer, you don’t get to see a lot of other industries but you get to meet a lot of people that are in them.”
So is the Hawk suffering quarter life crisis?
“I don’t think I’m having a quarter life crisis but then you never know unless you are an onlooker I suppose,” he jokes.
While Clarke is passionate about playing football, he admits that before becoming a footballer himself, he wasn’t exactly a passionate supporter.
“I always just enjoyed watching a good game of football. I never followed anyone closely. I’ve got a lot of friends who support Geelong because that’s where we grew up and I probably went to more of their games than anyone else’s but in terms of pure passionate supporting I never really had a team.
“I look at some of my friends, whose whole week is ruined or made depending on how their team goes and I can’t understand that because I’ve never felt it. I’ve felt it from a playing perspective. You get excited or disappointed. But from a fan’s perspective, I’ve never been able to feel that.”
As for attention from fans, Clarke says he’s not often stopped in the street. And that’s the way he likes it.
“I fly under the radar. I’m not very recognisable unlike some of the other boys on our team. I prefer it that way. I just want to play my role. But it is exciting to play with guys with big profiles.”