Justin Clarke

Justin Clarke (born 18 November 1993) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL) from 2012 to 2016. Clarke grew up in the small town of Booleroo Centre in the southern Flinders Ranges region of South Australia. Throughout his childhood Clarke had a strong interest in aviation, but his application to join the Air Force was denied as he was too tall. He completed high school with an ATAR of 99.95.

He was recruited from the Booleroo Centre/Melrose/Wilmington (BMW) Lions in the Northern Areas Football Association (NAFA) with the 4th selection in the 2012 Rookie draft. Clarke spent his first year at the Brisbane Lions on the rookie list and the three years following as a consistent member of the senior team's backline. Clarke announced his retirement on 31 March 2016 after suffering a severe concussion during a preseason training session. Multiple doctors had advised Clarke to completely abandon contact sport.

Since his retirement, Clarke has been involved as an ambassador for the Queensland Brain Institute, and has worked as an assistant coach at QAFL team Western Magpies. Upon graduating from The University of Queensland with a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) (Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering) and a Bachelor of Science (Mathematics) he was selected as a Rhodes Scholar for 2021 and will complete a Doctor of Philosophy at Oxford University in Engineering Science. Provided by Wikipedia