YOUNG Lions defender Justin Clarke says he has the best teacher in the game to prepare for taking on the AFL's brute power forwards.

Clarke has been a revelation for the Lions this season, going from a rookie contract to now being a defensive mainstay and jumping 115 places in the Official AFL Player Ratings.

Against North Melbourne at the Gabba on Saturday night Clarke will be assigned either Robbie Tarrant, Aaron Black or possibly Drew Petrie.

With the recent return of Matt Maguire from a leg injury, Clarke's progression has allowed Lions coach Michael Voss the luxury of moving Daniel Merrett to the forward line.

Clarke, 19, is in his second season at the Lions and said he could not have a better mentor than co-captain Jonathan Brown.

"He's a leader with great presence but he's not above you," Clarke said prior to training on Friday.

"He'll come up to you and have a chat and help you out with a few things. He was going through some kicking stuff with me the other day and it's really good the way he'll lead by example but also have a chat to you as well.

"There's not a much better opponent to play on at training than Browny."

Clarke has generally been assigned the opposition's second or third tall and has missed just one game since his debut – and that was through suspension.

With Merrett, Maguire and 2012 best and fairest Joel Patfull to learn from in defence, the South Australian said he was continually improving.

The Lions (5-9) have not won successive games this season, and Clarke said it had been a big talking point this week.

"I think it's getting that consistency across four quarters," he said.

"They've been really good in their first quarters during the year so that'll be a good outline as to how we'll go."

Mitch Golby trained strongly after being on light duties earlier in the week following a big hit against Gold Coast last Saturday.

Michael Whiting is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_mikewhiting