Retired Justin Clarke (2011-2016)

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Bengwatkins said:
Ive heard hes been compared to Dustin Fletcher...Is that just his height/gogogadgetness or an indication of his playstyle as a defender?
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Both. Very effective spoiler but also likes to take the game on like Fletcher.
 
Kerr

“Justin Clarke is a great case in point. His arrival at the Club seems to have coincided with a spurt of growth and physical maturity.”

“Since joining us in November, he’s put on 13kg and now looks like he’s got the body of a young man as opposed to a boy,” he said.

“His late birth and development has no doubt contributed to why he had little to no involvement with any elite talent pathways.”
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I knew he had a likely looking frame, but that's a fair growth spurt! Can't help but be excited by this kid.
 

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IanHaso84 said:
So the last 2 videos on the Lions site here and here feature Clarke in the background, and he appears to have put on quite a bit of muscle. Looks like he's really applied himself.
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I had to double-take in that first video. Those arms are pretty big. It's core strength that's the real issue for young KPs though. I think arms aren't that difficult to bulk up but the core muscles are and they are really important for 1-on-1 contests.
 
NEAFL Round 11 vs Broadbeach

Justin Clarke did a similarly good job on Broadbeach spearhead Jason Eagle, holding him to just one goal after he’d kicked 11 goals against Aspley in his previous outing.

 “We rate Eagle as a good player so for him (Justin Clarke) to play on him was a good effort. There were a few times when it was body-on-body and it looked like he (Eagle) would over-power him but the opposite happened, he won the contest and ran away with the footy,” said the coach.

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Probably one LTI to a key back away from debut you'd think.
 
Ooh Aah Ash McGrath
18 Jul, 2012

Question: How are the young fellas going with their bodies? Billy Longer looks huge compared to draft night. How are the others going? I see a couple running around who still look like they need a good feed.

The Mad Scientist, Justin Clarke, has also put on a fair bit, but he really needed to. Now he looks like a footballer instead of a skinny country kid like when he first rocked up.
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Grimreepah said:
Given that Clarke was the only South Australian on our permission to train list, it sounds like the Crows had some interest in him.
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Happy to hear that he is going well :thumbsu:
Yeah we were interested in him but you guys picked him frist so we went with Rory Laird who is the same type of player who is going well in the SANFL.
 
AFL's outstanding academic
13 Aug, 2012
Sam Canavan

Brent Staker dubbed Lion’s rookie Justin Clarke the ‘smartest man at the club’ on footy fix a few weeks ago.

Truth is, Clarke can probably lay claim to being the brightest bloke in the entire AFL.

He aced every one of his subjects and blitzed the South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE) last year, scoring 99.95 (the highest possible mark, equivalent to an OP 1 in Queensland).

His exceptional exit marks placed him ‘in the top four or five students in all of South Australia’, a rich reward for prioritising study over sport in his senior year.

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NT vs Reserves - Semi-Final Review
3 September 2012
Peter Blucher

Justin Clarke, another rookie list player hoping who looks still to be at the Gabba next year, also staged a compelling audition with a magnificent effort at fullback.

He played on Darren Ewing and kept the Thunder spearhead and 2011 Ray Hughson Medallist to two kicks and one goal late in the game.

“Phenomenal … unbelievable,” said coach Clarke, who was also especially pleased with the contribution of McKeever at centre half back.
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Ewing is a seriously good player. Really promising that Clarke was able to keep him to 2 kicks. It's hard to remember the kid is only 19.
 
The errant kicks that I saw from him were bouncing short, rather than over the top of his head or wide. While they weren't pretty I don't think they resulted in turnovers. He wasn't providing much run either, which could well have been the instructions he was given.
 
Opened the batting and top scored with 43 for Booleroo-Willowie in the Northern Areas Cricket Association yesterday.
 
jackess said:
Opened the batting and top scored with 43 for Booleroo-Willowie in the Northern Areas Cricket Association yesterday.
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Smart. AFL player. Handy cricketer the kids the whole package
 
Justin Clarke 2012 End of Season Review
by TheBrownDog

Senior games: 0
Goals: 0
Dreamteam: 0
Supercoach: 0
Club Best and Fairest votes: 0

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Image (2012 preseason) courtesy of Mr Ripper

Well, well... what have we got here?

Brisbane's current rebuild has unfortunately coincided with the AFL's current expansion project and as a result, our swag of draft picks over the last few years has been a little less lucrative than what clubs are historically able to collect on their journey through the nether regions of the AFL ladder.

There is a belief therefore that the margin for error in our recruiting in this period is razor thin. In this situation, there is nothing more valued than the diamond in the rough. The bargain player a club picks up with a nothing pick. The smokey.

Meet Justin Clarke.

Alongside a collection of Queensland prospects training with the Brisbane Lions in the leadup to the 2011 rookie draft was Clarke, a largely unheralded key position prospect hailing from the South Australian bush. It later emerged that other clubs, including Adelaide and Hawthorn had shown strong interest but with pick 4 in the rookie draft, Clarke became a Lion.

Standing at 195cm tall, with broad shoulders and long arms, Clarke has the perfect frame for a developing key defender and has athleticism to boot, running a sub-3 second 20metre sprint at a state screening session. Throughout the 2012 NEAFL season, Clarke showed that he can actually play the game too, with really good defensive performances against a number of quality players who had him well covered in both physical development and experience. Most notable were dominant defensive showings against NEAFL stars Jason Eagle (Broadbeach) and Darren Ewing (NT Thunder), the latter performance being described by Lions Reserves coach Nathan Clarke as "phenomenal" and "unbelievable".

Early comparisons with Dustin Fletcher appeared to be spot on, not just for his effective ability to spoil the ball with his gangly arms but also his tendency to run and create on the rebound, often getting involved multiple times within the chain. It is hard to tell exactly what the expectations within the club were for Clarke's first year, but his performances to date surely put him well ahead of schedule. With so much development ahead of him, the upside is enormous.

Off the field, Clarke is an remarkably well-rounded and talented individual excelling in both the academic and community spheres. Amongst his accomplishments are:
  • Recipient of the Order of Australia Student Citizen Award
  • South Australian Young Rural Ambassador Award
  • Attained an exceptionally high tertiary admission rank of 99.95 (ranking him in the top 25 students in South Australia)
  • Is enrolled in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Queensland
  • Is currently training for a pilot's license
Normally these off-field achievements would, individually, be of minor interest in a football context but cumulatively, they reveal Clarke to be an extremely intelligent, balanced and hard working individual who seeks to excel in all his endeavours. It will be fascinating to see how these traits translate to his football career.

I think we've got something quite special on our hands.
 
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