AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL
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HUME League club Holbrook has landed the prized signature of outgoing Wagga Tigers captain-coach Tom Power for next season.
Power, after three years at the helm of Wagga Tigers, will link up with good mates and co-coaches Jarrod Twitt and Brett Doswell at the Brookers.
Power made up his mind over the weekend and informed Wagga Tigers of his decision this week.
Twitt is thrilled to link up with Power again for the first time since they played alongside each other in Tigers' 2001 premiership win.
"It's a fantastic get," Twitt told The Daily Advertiser.
"Me and Tommy have been best mates since we were five or six years old so just to be playing footy and running around with him again, I'm really looking forward to it.
"I cannot tell you how happy I was when he told me."
Twitt believes Power, who is coming off his best season in a few years, will thrive without the responsibility of coaching.
"We're pretty lucky in the fact it's come at a time where he is stepping away from coaching," Twitt said.
"He did a fantastic job with what he had at his disposal at Wagga Tigers and I think this will be a real release for him.
"He can relax and concentrate on his family while playing and enjoying his footy."
Power leaves Tigers, his junior club, after 188 games and two premierships.
He coached Tigers for the past three years and he was an assistant to Troy Maiden in 2008.
Power led Tigers through one of its most difficult seasons in 2012 when they were without a home ground.
He took them to finals each year and enjoyed two finals victories.
Power said it was a tough call to leave Robertson Oval.
"It's always a hard decision to leave, especially being your junior club and all that," Power said yesterday.
"As much as it was a tough call to go, it was the right time to step away.
"It's Matty's (Rava) show now and the club is in more than capable hands with him at the helm."
The loss of Power is a big blow to Tigers given the lack of experience on its list.
Power and John Simpson are the only confirmed losses so far but talented teenagers Dougal Howard, Jim Carroll and Jeremiah Maslin are expected to be busy most of next year with representative commitments.
Max King is also likely to be playing at a higher level if not picked up in the AFL National Draft.
Twitt said Power will slot in nicely in the Holbrook team, which went down to Brocklesby-Burrumbuttock in this year's grand final.
"He'll probably play a variety of roles," Twitt said.
"He'll be more of a pinch-hitter on-ball and probably control the back six.
"We've got two or three really good key defenders but we could do with another general to help set things up."