Essendon's Georgia Clarke excited for AFLW fixture at Warrnambool's Reid Oval

On Sunday, the Branxholme AFLW export returns to the venue with her Essendon teammates ahead of their round six clash against Geelong.

In doing so, she faces her old club after she was delisted by the Cats earlier this year after five seasons.

A second chance at Essendon arose a week later, with Bombers coach Nat Wood - also from the south-west - familiar with Clarke's game after crossing paths at Geelong.

"It's the nature of the sport, I think more people get delisted than have a long career," Clarke told The Standard. "But there is second chances out there and I'm lucky to have a manager, a really good one, and he's helped put my name out there to clubs."

Clarke appreciated Wood, who had coached her in junior representative football and at Geelong when Wood was an assistant coach there, for giving her a shot.

"Glad that she took a chance on me... and had some trust in me that I can bring something else to the Bombers," Clarke said. "She's got a wealth of knowledge and had a good career in footy, she's played a lot of it.

"She really pushes people to be their best and has their best interest at heart."

Clarke, 23, is enjoying her time at Essendon and has featured in all five rounds after making her debut in its season-opening win against Hawthorn.

Clarke, who shifted to a forward role while at Geelong, has returned to her more traditional posting as a defender at Essendon.

"Back in defence now and had a good solid pre-season training down there," she said. "I'm finding it good down there, a bit different but I enjoy it."

Despite the move to a Melbourne-based club, Clarke continues to live in Geelong and commute the 75 minutes to the club. Describing herself as "a country kid at the end of the day", the regional city suits Clarke's lifestyle.

"I grew up in regional Victoria so I was used to travel all the time, two hours to (GWV) Rebels training," she said.

The Bombers, who sit outside the top eight only by percentage, are hoping to put last round's 20-point loss to Collingwood behind them when they meet Geelong in Warrnambool.

Clarke, who is one game away from a 25^th AFLW game milestone, said the Bombers had "fire in the belly" to atone for last week's loss to the Magpies, with the defender admitting there was extra motivation within herself to put a good performance in.

"You want to do well against your old side, especially the side you got delisted from, you want to perform," she said. "I'm not sure how I'll feel out there, it will be a little bit weird, especially being in the forward line at Geelong, now switched to the back line (at Essendon), I'll probably be playing on some of my (old) teammates that I was around the most at the club."

Clarke, who remembers playing an exhibition match at Reid Oval along the likes of South Warrnambool export and St Kilda footballer Renee Saulitis, said she had thought a bit about her return this week.

"It is a bit nerve racking, the more people you know get down there so you want to do well for them," she said. "It's just exciting to bring it to the area, gets the community involved, families like to come down and have a watch."

Clarke, who would have loved to see this type of event in Warrnambool when she was a kid living in Branxholme, believes the fixture could inspire young girls and boys to get involved in the sport.

"You can't be what you can't see," she said. "It might even be there first time coming to an AFL game this weekend. You never know, it might spark an interest.

"And sometimes it's not even watching the footy... it's that interaction they get with the players."

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