The Goannas have swooped on former Temora midfielder Kieran Shea and also secured the important re-signing of former Canberra Demons defender Nick Collins.

Shea spent four seasons in the Farrer League, travelling from Canberra, but was keen on a new challenge in the Riverina League.

Collins was a mid-year recruit for the Goannas and returned from overseas to play five games at the end of the season.

Collins has more than 120 games experience in the NEAFL and made a big impression at the Goannas late in the season.

MCUE coach Jeremy Rowe is confident Collins will go to another level next year.

"It's huge for our club to get Nick involved," Rowe said.

" I'm on the record last year basically as being incredibly impressed with the way Nick was able to negotiate coming into a side towards the end of the season, after he spent the large portion of the year with footy not on his radar, and the output we got from him was quite incredible under those circumstances.

"He's as good a decision maker as there is going around, really, and bringing him into the group for the full season will mean we get to see his leadership qualities really come to the surface as well and he'll feel much more comfortable being a bit of an organiser and on-field leader for us, which is something that has been a hallmark of his career at any level that he's played.

"He's also got the ability to break games open with his leg speed and rebounding so that was a massive one for us and one that is definitely cause for a lot of excitement."

Shea is another player with NEAFL experience and Rowe is happy with what Shea will add to the Goannas.

"We're definitely stoked to get Kieran on board. He's a guy that we think brings a fair bit to the table in a number of areas," he said.

"Certainly we believe as a small back he's hard to beat one-on-one and offers quite a bit of rebound and as an on-baller we think that he definitely makes good decisions by foot in that midfield third and tends to get the ball in space and be quite dangerous when he's bringing it inside forward 50 so we're definitely happy to have his skill set.

"He's also a terrific person and good clubman and someone who, while it's probably easy to forget, holds a bit of NEAFL experience back in the day as well. He ticks quite a few boxes for us and we're definitely happy to have him."

Shea is the fourth recruit MCUE have welcomed over the off-season after the addition of Zac Wiencke, Tom Keogh and Will Murray.

It helps replace the loss of George Kendall, Tim Smith and Blake Chapman with Rowe happy with how things are coming together for next season.

"I think if you speak to any club at the moment, it's been a tough slog over the off-season and I think a lot of clubs are out there doing a lot of work and maybe feeling like they're not getting much return and we would probably put ourselves into that category," he said.

"Now all of a sudden you have a couple of guys commit to you and it just changes the whole vibe about how you think."

The Goannas will begin pre-season training on January 21.

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