The Brisbane Lions can confirm defender Marco Paparone has signed a new two-year contract extension with the Club.

The Lions revealed on Monday that Paparone was close to finalising the deal which will see him remain at the Club until at least the end of 2018.

The 21-year-old was taken with pick No.23 overall in the 2012 National Draft. He has played 45 games, including all 22 games last season.

“It’s very exciting. It’s a great opportunity to continue my footy here with this young group and hopefully we can build something”, Paparone told lions.com.au.

The West Australian has been a standout over the summer on the track with Senior Coach Justin Leppitsch praising Paparone for not only his elite running ability, but also for his endurance.

“It’s a long time pre-season, you’ve got to be fit and healthy”, Paparone said.

“We’ve been training really well, we had a scratchy (scratch match) today and it went well in really hard conditions. We’re on track.”

Paparone is the latest player to recommit to the Club in the past six months following on from Stefan Martin, Pearce Hanley and Mitch Robinson most recently.