He’s still a junior footballer but Peel Thunder’s Clay Hall is quickly ticking off the achievements every young footballer hopes for.
A premiership player, captain of the colts side and now a promising up-and-comer in Thunder’s thriving league side.
The dynamic midfielder said making his league debut in round two against Perth was a “massive achievement”.
“It’s something that I’ve wanted to tick off the goal list ever since I walked into the club at futures level and to be able to do that early into my career was really cool,” he said.
The milestone also signalled an historic moment for Peel Thunder, marking the first time a father and son have played for the football club at league level.
Hall is the son of former West Coast Eagle and Geelong forward Derek Hall, who made 74 appearances for Peel, kicking 95 goals and twice being named best and fairest.
“It was actually a surprise to both of us, we only found out when my guernsey was presented to me before the game,” Hall said.
“This meant a lot to us, Peel Thunder has presented so many opportunities for myself and my dad so to be a part of a first-ever milestone was something that was really special to us.
“Unfortunately I wasn’t around to see dad play at Peel but I’ve seen glimpses of it on tape which is pretty cool to look back on.”
Originally from Victoria, Hall said his earliest memories were at the local football and netball club in Katandra, a small town in the City of Greater Shepparton.
“Every weekend I was at the footy club either watching dad play footy or mum play netball as they played for the same local team,” he said.
“From there I started up Auskick in Mooroopna and ever since then I’ve just absolutely loved the game of footy.”
The fresh 18-year-old, whose birthday was just last Friday, is now in his third year with Peel Thunder after playing his first Futures game with the club in 2021.
After the futures campaign wrapped up, Hall was asked to train with the colts side, and once a spot in the side’s backline opened up, he never looked back.
Hall said while he’s “loved every minute” of his time at Peel Thunder, last year’s premiership win was definitely a highlight.
“Winning a flag at any level is a great achievement but the fact that the last time Peel colts won a grand final was back in 2005, which coach Danny Chartres actually played in, was a very special moment and massive reward for effort put in over the year,” he said.
“The cherry on top was just how close our whole group was, that team was the best bunch of boys that had a massive amount of respect for each which is part of the reason I think we played so well together.”
Like his father, Hall’s passion for Geelong is strong and while he’s currently looking into studying PE teaching next year, the teen said he wouldn’t say no if the AFL came knocking.
“The long term goal for this year is definitely to land at an AFL club,” he said.
“There’s a bit of history with dad having played at Geelong but I don’t have a preferred club I’d want to go to.
“If I ended up achieving the goal of finding myself on an AFL list I’d be more than happy to travel anywhere around Australia and start my journey from wherever that may be.”