Clayton Collard will make his AFL debut this Friday night against St Kilda at Subiaco Oval, in what will be the opening fixture in the AFL’s Indigenous Round.

Collard takes his place in the side after an impressive start to the WAFL season with South Fremantle.

The 18 year old has booted 19 goals from eight appearances for the Bulldogs so far this season, including three consecutive four goal hauls against East Perth, Claremont and Peel in rounds five to seven.

Possessing the essential small forward traits of pace, silky skills and a strong marking ability, Collard’s addition to the forward line will offer Matthew Pavlich and Chris Tarrant reliable crumbing support inside the forward 50.

Collard said it was a “dream” to be lining up along side the likes of Pavlich and Tarrant this weekend.

“I’ve dreamed of playing AFL footy and to play with those blokes will be awesome,” Collard said.

Collard said he was excited to be making his AFL debut this weekend, with the match being of further significance to him as it is the opening fixture of the Indigenous Round.

“I’m glad I’ve got my opportunity to make the most of tomorrow night,” he said.

“I’ll probably have a lot of family there as well so I’ll try to put on a good show for my family.”

Senior Coach Chris Connolly said the club was proud of the service it had received from its Indigenous players since its inception in 1995 and that he expected the trend of large numbers of Indigenous players being recruited into the AFL to continue and increase in the coming years.

“We’ve always had a big Indigenous playing group in terms of number but the number of Indigenous players playing year in year out is just phenomenal and what we are seeing from our recruiting of players is that there is going to be another large group recruited again at the national draft,” Connolly said.

“They are just so special, the Indigenous players.

“They just have the gift to make a difference in such a competitive environment and we have a number playing this week again and they are very proud of that.

“I think the AFL and the way that they have supported Indigenous footballers, probably lead by Kevin Sheedy and their administrators, has just been outstanding and its something that the players here in this group take very, very seriously.

“They are very proud of what they are doing for their community and how it has influenced AFL football.”

Collard is a graduate of the AIS-AFL Academy and represented WA at the NAB AFL Under 18 Championships in 2006.

Joining Collard in the starting 22 are Paul Hasleby and Troy Cook.

Hasleby was a late omission in last weeks match against the Cats at Skilled Stadium due to back soreness, while Cook was listed as an emergency.

Bouncedown on Friday is at 6.40pm (WST), with the match being telecast into WA at the special time of 7.30pm (WST) on Channel 7.

Fremantle Team – Round 9 v St Kilda

B: Hayden, McPharlin, Grover

HB: Dodd, Johnson, Mundy

C: Black, Hasleby, McManus

HF: Headland, Pavlich, Solomon

F: Collard, Tarrant, Warnock

Foll: Sandilands, M. Carr, Bell

IC: Campbell, Crowley, Cook, Webster

Team Changes

In: Collard, Cook, Hasleby

Out: J. Carr (susp.), Duffield, Walker

AFL Debut – Clayton Collard, born 4/12/88 (18 years) – Fremantle’s first selection at the 2006 NAB AFL National Draft (#31 overall), from South Fremantle, graduate of the AFL-AIS Academy, represented WA in 2006 NAB AFL Under 18 Championships, has kicked 19 goals in 8 matches for South Fremantle in the WAFL in 2007, including hauls of 4 goals in three consecutive matches in rounds 5, 6 and 7.