Ben Clifton is a VFL survivor.
The 25-year-old was the second last player selected on Coburg’s list for the 2008 season, but has since become an important player at the club.
This Sunday, the defender will play his 100th senior game for the Lions against Williamstown, highlighting his persistence over eight years in the competition.
Clifton played just two senior games in his first season at Coburg, with the club then in an AFL alignment with Richmond.
While he also started his second season in the development league, by mid-year had secured a senior berth which he has retained for the majority of the past six years.
Clifton is now considered a veteran at Coburg despite being just 25, but is after no fanfare for his milestone match.
“It is just another game, like the 99 before it,” a modest Clifton said.
“I am pretty loyal and honest, so I am happy I am a one club player.
“Coburg has been good to me, so hopefully I have been good for it.”
While his journey at Coburg began with hopes of a chance at AFL level, once that passed, Clifton remained at the club to continue to play at the highest level possible.
“Once I realised the AFL opportunity was not going to happen, it was the players and the club itself that made me stick around,” he said.
“Recently I was contemplating what I was doing with football, then we (Coburg) were going stand alone, so I thought I would go around for another two years.
“For a few years I have been going one more season, one more season and I suppose the games have kept on clocking up.”
Before the move to stand alone status, the sometimes harsh nature of the alignment with Richmond was felt by Clifton, once selected in the senior side but dropped for the return of Ben Cousins from injury.
But the alignment had its positives, with Clifton learning a lot from a variety of coaches including Jade Rawlings, Craig McCrae, David Newitt, Adam Potter and Tim Clarke.
While Rawlings was his favourite with “a good balance between being a coach and your mate,” Clifton believes current coach Peter German was the best choice for the club moving forward.
“He (German) is exactly what Coburg needed when it went standalone as we are so young.
“He had vision and direction, and a stern way of doing it, which has set us in good stead.”
Looking back over his 99 games to date, Clifton remembers fondly playing footy with the likes of Joel Bowden, Greg Tivendale, Matthew Richardson and despite once being dropped for him, Ben Cousins.
One game though stands out, playing a practice game against Gold Coast Suns captain Gary Ablett, back when the Brownlow Medallist was at Geelong.
“In a practice match I got to line up on Gary Ablett, so that was a bit of a surprise for myself,” he said.
“I didn’t get a touch but he only got one in a quarter so I reckon I did alright.”
With his 100th game behind him this weekend, expect to see many more from the Coburg ‘veteran’ in the future when he decides ‘just one more season.’
Last Modified on 20/05/2015 16:59
