Fellow Tasmanians, Luke Potter and Josh Grant, joined Hodge on a visit to the town to meet players and discuss plans for 2016.

Likely centre-half-back Grant had already been announced when Hodge took the job a month ago but confirmation that former State League player, Potter, will join them is a huge boost for the Crows.

“He’d be six-(feet)-two or six-three, a key position player, but the beauty about him is you can play him anywhere – he’s fit enough and fast enough to play in the midfield,” Hodge said.

“We’ll probably look at using him across half-forward changing through the middle, but we’ll wait and see.

“He loved the feel and the atmosphere, he said he can’t wait to get up here and play.”

Hodge will move to Leeton in the new year but new assistant coach, Shaun Browning, is already taking ownership of some pre-season preparation.

“Shaun owns Strength 2 Strength, the gym in town, so he’s got the boys going through there,” Hodge said.

“So we’re changing it up, doing a bit of pre-season and after Christmas we’ll then get into the ballwork.”

Browning has confirmed he will play again next season after undergoing a knee reconstruction, while Dan Sullivan has taken on reserve grade coaching duties.

Hodge said that move has been well-received and should help with depth in encouraging a few players back to the club.