Drafted as a second-round pick in 2017, Clavarino's AFL career was curtailed by slow development, ankle and hamstring injuries, and interruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic.
He spent most of his time at St Kilda playing for their second-tier Victorian Football League (VFL) affiliate, Sandringham.
He gained two mentors at Haileybury: Josh Battle, a good friend who was drafted by St Kilda a year before Clavarino and gave him advice on the time and diet management required of professional footballers; and Matthew Lloyd, the former Essendon forward, who was Clavarino's assistant coach from the age of 16.
[4] In 2015, Clavarino represented Vic Country at the AFL under-16 national championships, held on the Gold Coast in July.
[6] In December that year, he trained with Melbourne for two weeks as part of an Academy program to give prospective draftees insight into life at an AFL club.
This was a serious setback – Clavarino had been anticipated to make his AFL debut in the opening round of the season, since Brown was suspended and fellow key defender Jake Carlisle was recovering from an injured back.
He signed a one-year contract extension in October; Simon Lethlean, the club's general manager of football, acknowledged Clavarino's position as a "bigger-bodied defender" meant he would take some time to develop as a player.
In the absence of reserves football, Clavarino pressed his case for AFL selection through the practice games arranged against other clubs.
[15] In May 2021, Clavarino finally played his first AFL match, 1283 days after being drafted;[16] a twenty-point victory over North Melbourne in round 11.
Victoria was still in COVID-19 lockdown and AFL matches in the state were played without crowds, so Clavarino's family was unable to attend the game; St Kilda set up a videoconference so they could watch his guernsey presentation.
His recruitment was considered timely, as key defender Sam Skinner had just left for Port Adelaide's AFL side.