Angus Clarke, 29, has joined the Tigers after stints with Werribee and Norwood.

He is expected to complement Hampden league interleague representative Ben Malcolm in the Tigers' ruck division.

Clarke, who played 17 matches for Werribee last season, can also play as a key forward.

He is the second big off-season signing for new coach Jarrod Holt, who is preparing for his second stint at the helm, following the arrival of NEAFL midfielder Lee Dale.

Holt said Clarke, who will be based in Melbourne and travel for games, was a welcome addition to Hanlon Park.

Clarke has connections to Portland through mates which was the catalyst for his decision to commit to a regular four-hour commute.

"It is something that we haven't really done in the past because it is a long way," Holt said.

"But there is a couple of other people that he is going to travel back with. The calibre of player he is and he has good leadership so that will help the other boys so it's definitely worthwhile for us."

Holt believes Clarke will work well in tandem with Malcolm to give the Tigers' onballers first use.

"He is a very competent forward as well Angus, so he'll probably play between forward and a bit of ruck," he said.

"Ben is an exceptional ruckman too, so hopefully it will work really well for us.

"He is different to Ben. He is probably more of a stronger body-on-body type. From the homework I have done on him, he is really competitive and a good fighter and good at winning his own contested ball."

Holt is confident Clarke and Dale will "help us grow the young guys that we've got".

"They can learn and hopefully be better players for it," he said.

The former Hamilton Kangaroos mentor believes other signings, including Dale Handreck (Heywood) and Josh Atwell (Tyrendarra), will bolster the Tigers' best 21 too as the club strives to make its first finals series since joining the Hampden league in 2013.

Handreck is a key position player and Atwell plays across half-back.

Holt said the Tigers had made a "conscious effort to hone our skills over the whole pre-season" while leadership development had also been a focus with a young list.

"We're looking for guys to step up and be better leaders," he said.

"There's been guys who have been really impressive and shown they're capable of doing that.

"Over the Christmas break we had four weeks off, which is a decent break, and I think all the guys made a big effort to do the work.

"We did (fitness) testing before the break and testing when we got back and they knew they were going to be tested to see if they were doing the work and 85 or 90 per cent of the people tested better than their four weeks off which is a good sign of their attitude."

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