Lions land the prized signature of rival midfielder for new season

The Lions landed the signing of Powell on Thursday night, upstaging a host of rival clubs to his services.

Powell spent last year at Narrandera, where he finished runner up to Luke McKay in the Eagles' best and fairest.

He won Ainslie's best and fairest in 2022 and has state league experience in the North Eastern Australian Football League (NEAFL).

Powell is no stranger to the Riverina League, having played also at Griffith in 2021, where his brother Tom is likely to return to for 2024.

But after initially exploring the possibility of moving interstate to play state league football, Powell decided against it and has now found a new home at Ganmain Sportsground.

GGGM coach Sam Martyn is rapt to land the services of a quality midfielder like Powell.

"It's a huge get for us," Martyn said.

"He oozes quality and I've played plenty of footy with him and against him too throughout Canberra and his time in the Riverina and he's just so damaging. You've always got to put a lot of time into him. So to have him on our side as opposed to playing him is not only great for a coach's perspective but also our team because he's going to bring so much.

"The young players coming through, the amount they'll learn from playing with him will be tremendous."

Powell is the second key figure from Narrandera to join the Lions over the off-season.

Powell follows former Narrandera coach Shaun Brooker to the Lions and Martyn admitted that move helped play a part.

"Being friends with Jack, I kept tabs on him, spoke to him throughout last year on what he was doing and at the end of the year, checked in, and as far as I was aware he was going to try his luck in Adelaide," Martyn said.

"Then when I heard it didn't happen, I approached him and said we'd be interested in trying to secure his services.

"It probably helps having Shaun, because they had a really good relationship from his time at Narrandera but again, I think it was just the appeal that we firmly believe that we will be a contender this year, as every other club does at this time of year. But I guess it might have been the lure of being close to success for a few years and I guess that success is something that appealed to him. So that played a big part, which is great."

Powell has only won the two games during his two seasons in the Riverina League so the appeal of joining the Riverina League heavyweights helped the Lions in their bid.

The Lions also hope the signature of Powell will help sway classy midfielder Matt Hamblin into staying at the club.

The talented young gun won his second Daniel McPherson Medal at the club last season, in a year which he also won the Riverina League Player of the Year award.

Hamblin has been training with the Lions but is still yet to sign and is weighing up a move to Adelaide to play in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL).

It has been a good off-season for the 2022 premiers, who only recently got a commitment out of Sydney-based key forward Tom Banuelos for this year.

They have now added Powell and Frazer Menzies, with Kai Watts and Jed Guthrie their only confirmed departures.