Employment in the area brought Kelly to the Hawks and it will now see him return to Colac and District League club Birregurra in 2016.

Kelly and fellow Hawks James Bower and Paul Cass have finished their employment in the region and will play in Victoria this season.

Kelly, 29, kicked 47 goals from 10 games for EWK after he joined the club mid-season and formed a lethal forward partnership with Marc Geppert.

EWK coach Gavin McMahon said it was disappointing but explained it was the nature of Kelly’s employment.

“It’s one of those things,” Kelly said.

“Kel came and knocked on our door and you’re not going to knock a bloke like that back when you’re looking to try to build a couple of different avenues to your forward line.

“In the same way, you can’t be too surprised when he decides to go back and play footy with his family back home.”

It was a double-edged blow to the Hawks, who had been in discussions with Kelly’s brother Andrew, about a potential move to the Hawks.

Bower will also be a significant loss for the Hawks after he was promoted to first grade for EWK’s three finals, where he performed admirably in a number of key positions.

Cass played in the Hawks’ reserve grade premiership.

McMahon is confident the Hawks have the cattle to replace both men.

“It’s one of those things where we would love to have them, and we’re disappointed to lose them but I believe we have a multitude of options,” he said.

“As a group we got a lot better with how we moved the ball into our forward line.” 

McMahon named the likes of Jackson Quade, Tex Gillard and Luke Scott as three promising key forward options, while he is also looking forward to a big year from James Scott.

“We’re pretty excited that we’ve got quite a few options to try up forward,” he said.

The Hawks have also lost Jake Brain to Finley and Craig Depiazza to retirement.

The Hawks began their pre-season campaign on Monday night.

They open the season against The Rock-Yerong Creek on April 9.