Star five-eighth Nathan Rose will line up for Gundagai next season.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In the biggest inter Group Nine move in years, the superbly talented playmaker will switch clubs as he looks for a new challenge.
After two seasons as Southcity's captain-coach, Rose will line up against his junior club for the first time in 2022.
The 26-year-old admitted he was looking for a change after his two seasons at the helm were plagued by COVID-19.
He thought a new challenge at a different club was the right fit.
"I feel like I need a change up after being at Southcity for nine years now, coaching through juniors and now into first grade," Rose said.
"I thought I needed a freshen up and a new challenge."
Rose is looking forward to stepping back in his commitments.
He considered simply stepping away from coaching while remaining at the Bulls before electing for a bigger change.
"At first I thought of stepping down as a coach but as the time went by I sat down and had a good think about if I wanted to stay there or find a new challenge to freshen myself up and just look to play some good footy next year," he said.
READ MORE
Dane O'Hehir and James Smart among the big names leaving the Tigers after the abrupt end to the season.
The defending premiers were fourth on the ladder, two places below the Bulls, who they were to play in the last round of the season, when lockdown struck and the competition was unable to be resumed.
Tigers secretary Martin Hay is thrilled to have Rose agree to come to the club as they look to bring in some more experience to their side.
"We're really ecstatic to have him," Hay said.
"There are very few country footballers of his ilk available so we're really looking forward to having him and his family as part of the Tigers club.
"He's a fantastic footballer but mostly he's a good person and that's the main attribute we look for.
"You have to be a good person to be apart of our club and that's the most important thing we look for.
"Touty (president David Tout) and myself have been running the club for 10 years now and our first grade team is held in such high esteem in town as we're the only winter sport.
"Everyone looks up to them so it's a privilege to play first grade for Gundagai Tigers, it's not an entitlement.
"That's how everyone sees it and we're just over the moon to have him."
Rose has been the lynchpin of the Southcity attack and was the competition's equal highest tryscorer this season.
However Bulls football manager Matt Ward is confident the club can regroup.
"You can't replace him but you have to roll with it," Ward said.
"We've got a strong squad and you never know who pops up.
"You just have to work to the strengths of what you've got."
Rose had already indicated he was unlikely to return for a third season as coach so the Bulls had been working on their next step.
Ward is hopeful of being able to make an announcement in the coming weeks.
"He was still unsure if he was going to coach so we had other people we were looking at anyway," he said.
However the Bulls are expecting more losses from their side.