From the small country town of Booleroo in South Australia, Justin Clarke was drafted from relative obscurity at the 2011 AFL Rookie Draft and has rapidly become one of the most promising key defenders in the AFL.

At 195cm he is a long-term prospect for the Lions' backline, and carried an extra load as a leader this year when Dan Merrett was impacted by a long-term injury.

In Merrett’s absence, Clarke was forced to play closest to goal where he watched the game unfold from the last line of defence and also called the shots for the inexperienced back six.

Beginning his fifth pre-season, Clarke said he was eager to get to work as the players’ moved their focus to 2016.

“The first week of pre-season is always pretty tough. It’s good to get back into it and see how we can improve in our running capability and really step up through the football skills as well,” Clarke said.

“(I’ll focus on) everything really that comes with football. Improving my kicking especially, my disposals in general but also being able to keep working with Rog Merrett and Harris Andrews in developing our backline – making my footwork a bit cleaner and keeping that competitive edge that I’ve got working for me.”

Watch: Justin Clarke Discovered

With the Lions’ own gym facilities at the Gabba still under reconstruction (from flooding last month), the players headed to CrossFit Torian in Bowen Hills where they completed their weights program.

“We’ve just got a few weights – leg weights and upper body weights,” Clarke said before today’s session.

“It’s good to have a bit of a change up in scenery while the Gabba gets a few renovations done to it.”

Clarke, will celebrate his 22nd birthday tomorrow and said it was business as usual, starting with a 7am start.

“We’ve got training tomorrow.

“It’s a pretty heavy day so we’ll get that done and I think I’ll just be looking forward to having a nice long sleep at the end of it,” he laughed.