The midfielder, a three-time Ainslie premiership player, will debut for the Goannas in Saturday's vital clash with Wagga Tigers at Robertson Oval.

It's a huge and timely boost for the injury-plagued outfit, who will be either one game or three games clear of the sixth-placed Tigers come the final siren.

Foley had just returned from his time with University of Miami Hurricanes when he bumped into Goannas player Christian Palombi at a Canberra gym, and the club worked swiftly to secure his services.

"We're excited to have him on board and that he'll come straight into our line up this weekend. His commitment is to play week to week for the back end of the season," MCUE coach Jeremy Rowe said.

"We understand the drought we're in in regards to premierships for Mangoplah, so to bring in another guy who knows what success looks like is important.

"With the amount of injuries we've had this season, we were always going to keep things open when it came to these opportunities.

"We acted on it really quickly and we were excited when he came on board and he wants to experience some country footy.

"Certainly he will play on the inside for us. He's a very hard worker and covers the ground, and when he rests across half forward he can hit the scoreboard.

"For me as a coach, the fact he's played in such a strong midfield and coached by a very reputable coach in Chris Rourke, I'm looking forward to picking his brain on a few things."

Rowe hopes the improved midfield depth will allow them to improve their options up forward after relying heavily on full forward Trent Castles so far this year.

"To bring a classy A-grade midfielder into our team at this stage would be exciting regardless of the circumstances surrounding it, but it does have a domino effect where guys can spend further time forward," he said.

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"The search for us has been to find a forward line that's not as reliant on Trent as we have been, and allowing some guys like Brayden Ambler and Nick McCormack to spend more time forward than they perhaps would have is great for us."

Player points was an issue for MCUE last year, but Foley's inclusion won't have any disruption on their team make-up.

"He's a four point player, but he's our only four point player," Rowe said.

"We were meticulous when it came to points management this year and most of our recruits were former player who came back as one pointers.

"We were able to use the marquee player rule to get Ben Halse's points down as well."

The Tigers will be looking to back up last week's big upset over previously unbeaten Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong, and a fourth win of the season would keep their finals hopes alive.

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