Clark comeback bright spot for Cats in loss to Suns

By just playing in Sunday's NAB Challenge game, Geelong recruit Mitch Clark ticked off another step in his recovery from depression and, put simply, he performed exactly how you would expect him to considering this was just his fifth game of football in nearly three years.

He attacked his first contest with vigour, nearly giving away a free-kick with an eager tackle, and then spilt his first three marks in hot and humid conditions that everybody struggled to deal with.

He was in good position to take them, though, either by beating his man on the lead, overpowering him or judging nicely the ball's drop. He moved well.

All he was missing, understandably, was the touch. But that came later.

In the third quarter, for instance, the former Melbourne key forward picked up a couple of balls at his feet and one particularly special "pick and flick" he executed perfectly set up a goal for a team-mate.

No doubt his return was the main point of interest for Cats and casual supporters alike in this otherwise unremarkable match played in 33-degree heat in Townsville.

And up until the final quarter, Clark was just playing his part, trying to get through his comeback without incident.

But then, the game seemed to fall into his lap – and who would begrudge him that.

First he got on the end of some good work further a field and ended up taking an easy mark 20 metres out .

As the 27-year-old booted his first goal in blue and white colours, his new team-mates rushed to him in a nice moment.

A few minutes later, they were around him again as Clark found himself in the right place at the right time inside 50, gathered the ball at the back of a pack, and slotted his second on the run to put his team in front.

He won't be remembered as the match-winner, though, for Gold Coast deserved to win this match by more than the eight points that they did, but Geelong supporters at least got a glimpse of what their forward line might look like without a heavy reliance on Tom Hawkins, who also kicked two goals and looked in good nick.

In short, there was a lot to like. Clark ended up playing a full game, had nine disposals and took two marks to go with his two goals.

He could be one of this season's feel-good stories.

Another might be the Gold Coast. If they become that - an expansion team making the finals for the first time in their history and, who knows, even challenging for the flag – then the NAB Challenge for their supporters is about finding some of the hallmarks of the team they hope to become.

Without many of their main players like Gary Ablett, Dion Prestia, Jaeger O'Meara and key defensive posts Rory Thompson and Sam Day, Sunday's match was never going to give too much away.

But there were signs of the values new coach Rodney Eade wants to implement into the Suns game style, if you looked hard enough, and the impact of a bunch of key players like ruckman Zac Smith (28 hitouts), Harley Bennell (16 disposals and five tackles), Michael Rischitelli (two goals and 21 disposals) and recruit Mitch Hallahan (24 disposals) - was plainly obvious.

From a game plan perspective, the Suns showed they want to do what all Eade teams have done – back themselves, take the game on, attack.

But it has to be underpinned by defence. And when Sunday's match was at its most revealing from a tactical point of view, it was in the second quarter when the Suns squeezed Geelong inside their forward half and never let them out, tackling and hassling them all the way.

They won the contested ball and clearances easily and had they made even a little bit more of the massive 15 to 6 inside 50 differential in the second quarter they might have closed the game by halftime.

But like any pre-season match, drawing conclusions is fraught, particularly in the type of hot and humid conditions the players endured in Townsville.

The AFL partially introduced its heat policy for the match, with both teams allowed extra interchange players and taking extended quarter-time breaks inside air conditioned change rooms.

Handling the slippery ball was difficult, but it looked particularly challenging for the Cats in the second quarter as they made a litany of un-Geelong-like skill errors coming out of defence under the Suns' intense forward pressure.

Not even the Cats premiership veterans were immune, which should probably be a source of comfort rather than worry for the coaching staff.