Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong has landed the prized signature of Tom Banuelos for the upcoming Riverina League season.
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Banuelos made five appearances for the Lions at the beginning of last season and he had a profound impact in his limited time at GGGM.
Despite playing less than a third of the games, Banuelos still finished in the top five at GGGM's best and fairest vote count.
The versatile tall had a number of clubs chasing his services for 2024 and GGGM coach Sam Martyn was delighted that Banuelos had chosen to return to the Lions for the upcoming season.
"We're absolutely thrilled," Martyn said.
"As the competition is aware, he was one of the premier players for the first six rounds of last year and to get a player of his calibre back for a whole season this year is incredible.
"It was announced on Monday night at training and you could see the delight in the players faces because not only is he a fantastic footballer but he's also a great human being.
"We are just rapt that he's going to be in Ganmain colours this year and hopefully lighting this competition up."
Banuelos is currently residing in Sydney and will commute down this season to play for the Lions with Martyn unsure of exactly how many games he will play.
"He'll play as many games as he possibly can," he said.
"Understanding that he's going to be living in Sydney and he's quite successful at what he does off the field too.
"But he's committed to playing as many games as possible and he had a plethora of offers from lots of different football clubs not just from New South Wales but across Australia.
"So for him to commit to us we are absolutely stoked."
Martyn used Banuelos in a couple of different positions during his brief spell at the club in 2023 and the Lions coach admitted that he would need to have a long think about where best to play the versatile tall this season.
"Probably the hardest part of my job is identifying his best position or where to play him," he said.
"At times last year we played him in the ruck and there were a few games where he absolutely tore opposition teams apart when he played forward.
"But then as a bigger, taller midfield option he goes through there and gathers a multitude of disposals and really damages the opposition.
"It's a good problem to have that's for sure but at this stage I probably see him playing predominantly forward.
"But we've got the option of moving him around and I guess with a number of tall options we've now got some different looks we can throw at the opposition."
There hasn't been a lot of movement at the Lions so far over the off-season with Banuelos and Fraser Menzies the only confirmed arrivals while Kai Watts and Jed Guthrie are the only pair to have left the den.
It is also understood that Kirk Mahon is still deciding on whether to play this season.
The Lions look to be building a strong list ahead of the upcoming season and Martyn said he was excited to see what the group could achieve this year.
"Kai and Jed they both played some significant first grade game for us last year and we wish them well," he said.
"They were just looking for different opportunities and they left with our regards.
"Its part of country football, there was no ill feelings towards them at all and we wish them all the best this year.
"But it gives opportunities for other players, we've got Fraser Menzies who we welcome back into the fold and he'll be right for the start of the season.
"He's a real professional in terms of what he does to prepare himself for training and games so we are stoked to have Frase back onboard and we are now adding Tommy B.
"We've also got some kids that are really pushing the envelope to play first grade this year and seize their opportunity."
The Lions currently have two trial games locked in, first travelling to Sandy Creek on March 9 to play North Albury before playing host to Eastlake on April 6 at Ganmain Sportsground.
