KATAMATITE'S Tom Clurey is arguably country Victoria's brightest prospect at next week's AFL National Draft.
Experts are tipping the 192cm key defender will be snapped up inside the first 30 picks at next week's draft.
"As a key defender he hasn't been cleaned out, he's never had a bag of goals kicked on him,'' Murray Bushrangers region manager Andrew Carson said.
"He can play on key forwards and he can play as a key forward. He's so reliable and he's got elite decision making skills.''
Clurey's endurance is already at the top level, with the running machine burning rivals at draft camp.
"He ran a 15-1 in the beep (test) and if the AFL caps rotations in (2014) or change the sub rule it'll make him even more damaging with that big tank,'' one recruiter noted.
Clurey, who lives on a 600-acre farm filled with canola crops and sheep in the remote town of Katamatite, north of Shepparton, put his powerful fitness levels down to his active childhood.
"I was always out kicking the footy with my brothers or riding bikes or skateboards or anything with wheels. I didn't spend much time inside watching TV,'' he said.
"I think I can have an impact next year. I've had so many injuries that having that full-time environment will help me become stronger now and stay fit.
"On the small or medium forwards I back myself in to mark it and I feel a lot more comfortable.''
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