GERARD FitzGerald rolls out the three Cs in describing Stephen Clifton, the latest North Ballarat player to play 100 VFL senior games.
Classy, courageous and committed is how FitzGerald views Clifton, one of the most decorated players in the club’s history.
FitzGerald has known and seen Clifton develop as a player and a person from the time he was a teenager in the North Ballarat Rebels program.
When the curtain dropped on Clifton’s AFL career with Greater Western Sydney at the end of last season, FitzGerald said he was pleased that Clifton chose not only to resume playing with the Roosters, but also to return to live and work in Ballarat.
One of the pillars of North Ballarat’s success has been the ability of players to not only buy into FitzGerald’s program, but the club’s holistic approach to the Ballarat community.
Clifton returned to his previous job at WIN TV and made a seamless transition from the AFL bubble to life as a VFL player who has to balance work and football.
As with most of those players who return from an AFL club, great expectations come with it, but FitzGerald said that hasn’t been an issue for Clifton.
What FitzGerald has noticed is that Clifton’s body shape has changed.
“When he was drafted he was very, very powerful and there seems to have been an emphasis with GWS to make him a more mobile mid,” FitzGerald said.
“But his influence around the club remains very strong. He was voted into the leadership group even though he had been away from the club for two years.
“His teammates saw him as someone who showed and displayed the values of the club and his influence on and off the field has been good.
“Stephen really is an outstanding young man and that has showed out all through his football.”
Clifton was a lynchpin of North Ballarat’s golden era when they became just the sixth VFA/VFL club since 1900 to win three successive premierships.
Not only did Clifton play in all three flags, but he won the JJ Liston Trophy, club best and fairest and a host of selections in the VFL Team of the Year.
While North Ballarat doesn’t currently resemble the club that won those three successive premierships, FitzGerald said one of Clifton’s driving ambitions will be to be part of the club’s next successful era.
“He’s very much a team first time player, very committed to the team cause and one of the strongest of those in terms of his commitment to what is best for the team,” FitzGerald said.
“He’s a great team person.”
And, for all the accomplishments that Stephen Clifton has accumulated there can be no greater praise.
Last Modified on 29/05/2013 13:01