On the back of Guy Orton’s return to Griffith, it’s a coup for new coach Adrian Pavese and a boost for the Swans after losing three senior players to neighbours Coleambally.

President Jeff Harris told The Daily Advertiser he was disappointed in the tactics of the Farrer League club, after the recruitment of Griffith players Josh Hamilton and Tom Groves to fill their coaching positions for season 2016.

The Blues then announced the signing of Chris Cerato this week with speculation more will follow.

“We're certainly disappointed, particularly with (Josh) Hamilton. He's a player we brought to town and found employment for,” Harris said.

“For a club that's cashed up like Coly are it seems, to come and cherry pick players as their recruitment, that aspect of it is certainly disappointing.”

Harris has not spoken to Coleambally about the issue but said it shows the Letter Of Intent (LOI) rule is not working.

“It's a perfect example of that letter of intent rule not having any real teeth,” he said.

“The rule sits there but the guidelines and what you have to get done about it makes it impossible to enforce once a player makes a decision.

“In essence that rule is a toothless tiger.

“There's a by-law that before a club has any interview with a potential player, that club will approach the player’s existing club.

“It sits there as a gentleman’s agreement but it seems that letter of intent is sent after the deal is done.”

Harris hopes the incoming player points system can help stop the poaching of players within AFL Riverina.

He said this off-season has been as bad as he has seen.

“It probably comes and goes a little bit but this year we're seeing it as bad or worse than we have in the years I've been involved, and that's coming up to five years,” he said.

Meantime, Iudica, 22,  is excited about joining Griffith.

Originally from Essendon and District League club Keilor, Iudica has spent the last two seasons with Ainslie and will join Birch in travelling from Canberra.

Both Iudica and Birch spoke to a number of AFL Riverina clubs before Griffith snapped up the pair.

“Alex is mates with Sam Daniel, Will Grigg and Ben King and he got a call because they knew we were looking for somewhere to play,” Iudica explained.

“We came down and met the boys, had a look at the club and had a look around and met the people involved.

“That made it a pretty easy decision in the end.”

Iudica will play through the midfield at Griffith, adding another player to an already dangerous on-ball group that boasts King, Grigg, Orton and Mick Duncan.

Birch will play up forward.

Iudica has high hopes for the Swans.

“I think when you look at their season this year, they had about six games where they lost by under 10 points,” he said.

“That obviously shows they are thereabouts, especially when they only missed finals by two or three games.”

Pavese was thrilled to land the two signings and said he is comfortable with the Swans’ list heading into the start of pre-season training.