FORMER Brisbane Lions key forward Scott Clouston is on the radar of several AFL clubs, with Adelaide believed to be interested in the wake of Kurt Tippett's exit from the Crows.
Clouston, who's 194cm and 92kg, was on the Lions' rookie and senior lists from 2006 to 2009. He played two AFL games late in the 2008 season.
In his last match, the final-round game against the Sydney Swans at the SCG, he took 11 marks and kicked one goal.
He failed to add to his games tally the next season because he was cut down by recurrent groin injuries.
Now 25, Clouston has spent the past three seasons with Brisbane club Redland in the NEAFL.
His 2012 season was outstanding. He finished one vote behind the leaders in the NEAFL's Grogan Medal for the best and fairest in the competition after failing to poll in a late-season match in which he had 25 disposals and kicked six goals.
Brisbane Lions midfielder Dayne Zorko polled highly in the Grogan Medal for four years before being taken by the Lions leading into the 2012 season. The 23-year-old was a success story in his first AFL season, playing in 16 games with the Lions.
Clouston did win this season's Syd Guildford Trophy, the QAFL Record player of the year award, after a season in which he kicked 55 goals.
His manager, Peter Blucher of Velocity Sports, said Clouston was a far superior footballer to the player who was cut by the Lions at 22 years of age.
"He's a really elite athlete — and at the moment he's a part-time footballer," Blucher said.
Clouston was a soccer player and a cricketer at Brisbane Grammar before taking up Australian football at the suggestion of a friend when he began his studies at the University of Queensland.
He was almost 19 when the Lions took him at No.20 in the 2006 rookie draft from Morningside. He spent two years on the rookie list before being elevated to the senior list in 2008.
An Adelaide spokesman was unwilling to comment on Clouston's prospects with the Crows. "We're not going to provide a running commentary on who we're looking at," he said.
Clouston is one of 12 Queenslanders who are being tested at the AFL combines this week.
The top five prospects are undergoing testing in the NAB AFL Draft Combine, which is being held at Etihad Stadium until Friday, while Clouston is among the seven who'll be tested at the state-level screening on Saturday.
The top two prospects, key position player Clay Cameron and midfielder Andrew Boston, are considered top-30 draft picks.
Cameron, according to Queensland state talent manager Bob Batty, is an uncanny judge of the ball in the air, while Boston is a skilful ball winner who was named in the All-Australian team after the 2012 national under-18 championships.
Gold Coast is able to pre-list five Queenslanders and then decide whether to include them on their list or trade them on.
It's considered likely that the Suns will list Cameron and Boston and trade on their next three zone selections.
The other three Queenslanders at the national combine are key forwards Jordon Bourke and Alir Alir and small defender Brian Coleman-Broome.
Bourke this week learned that Geelong had decided against nominating him as a father-son selection, while Alir, who is from Sudan, has a huge leap.
Coleman-Broome rebounded from a poor 2011 season after being mentored by Swans premiership forward Michael O'Loughlin. He's tough and pacy.
The players to be screened at state-level are Clouston; midfielder Blake Grewar, key defenders Tom Fields, Michael Wyld and Jermaine Wardle, and small defenders Josh Smith and Jamie Skennar.
Fields is the 19-year-old son of former centreman Neville Fields, who played 140 games with Essendon and 60 games with the Swans in their South Melbourne days.
Another Queenslander under scrutiny is Joel Tippett, the brother of Kurt, who played two AFL games with Gold Coast in 2011.
Joel, 23, was named at full-back in the SANFL's 2012 team of the year following an excellent season with West Adelaide.
He's unable to play in the SANFL Grand Final against Norwood on Saturday because of a fracture in his back.
The national combine goes for four days while the state-level combines go for one day.
Saturday's state-level screening is for players from Victoria, Tasmania, NSW and Queensland.
The state-level screening for South Australian players will be held in Adelaide on Saturday, October 13 while the state-level screening for West Australian players will be held in Perth on Sunday, October14.