Fremantle Dockers star Jordan Clark is far from content despite being well placed at AFL mid-season bye

Fremantle star Jordan Clark has warned the Dockers’ superb form leading into the bye won’t count for anything if they don’t continue to perform in the second half of the season. The Dockers surged into the top eight after successive wins over GWS, Port Adelaide and Gold Coast, and are now enjoying time off for their mid-season bye. When they return, Fremantle will have three consecutive games at Optus Stadium against North Melbourne, Essendon and St Kilda which provides them with the perfect platform to set up their season. But after watching the team struggle with expectations in the past, and having experienced the heartbreak of dropping from third to 10th after losing the last four games of last season, Clark said this team wouldn’t be falling into the trap of looking too far ahead. “It doesn’t mean anything for the next game,” Clark told The West Australian. “You’d rather be on the positive side of the ledger than the negative. But it’s only half way through the year. There’s long way to go with this group. “We’ve taken the right steps forward in the last couple of weeks and have a few days off now, but it’s really important how we tackle the back end of the year. “We feel we’ve set ourselves up to have a good chance to play really well and do something special as a group.” Clark said the most pleasing aspect of Fremantle’s season had been their ability to learn from their defeats and prove they could handle the pressure when confronted with similar situations. He was proud of how the Dockers reacted when Gold Coast kicked two quick goals on Saturday to drag themselves into contention. Clark said Fremanle’s determination shone out and their ability to consistently with contests and put their bodies on the line in the wet conditions was a strong indication that they’d learnt from past mistakes. He believes the Dockers have embraced every chance to learn and get better. “It’s a credit to the work we’ve done. We’ve had a couple of tough losses this year and had a few honest conversations and have gone after a few things in our game,” he said. “We’re not all experts and you do get stuff wrong so it’s all about trying to do the best we can. We have a growth mindset as a club and a footy team. It’s a really positive environment to be around.”