Keane, 23, has joined Allansford from Warrnambool and District league rival Panmure in what shapes as one of the biggest moves of the off-season.

The ruckman, who helped Panmure to two premierships in the past three seasons, will be an assistant to third-year Cats coach Josh Parkinson.

“I know a few of the boys through interleague and Parky is a pretty good bloke. The way they pitched the club was pretty good,” Keane said.

“And being an assistant coach was something I was interested in. It was a good time (to move).”

Keane said the decision to leave Panmure was hard to make. He was appreciative of the club’s attitude after two run-ins with the tribunal.

The first was while he was at Old Collegians in 2011. The second was in a 2012 practice match after he had crossed to Panmure, under coach Simon O’Keefe.

“Tocka helped out a lot on that side of things, they gave me a chance. I hope I’ve repaid the faith,” he said.

Keane was excited about what was in store for Allansford, which made finals in 2014 but, ravaged by injuries, couldn’t progress past the first week.

His presence frees up Ben Lenehan and Darren Kelly to have an influence at either end of the ground and gives the Cats one of the best spines in the league.

The big men complement an onball unit featuring Nick Johnstone, Sam Holloway, Leatham Robe, Josh Brown and Parkinson.

“They’ve definitely got a good spine. That’s pretty hard to come by in any footy really,” he said.

“The onball unit is as good as any, they’ve obviously had a bit of bad luck with injuries the last couple of years, but they’ve been thereabouts.

“Since I’ve been at Panmure they’ve beaten the top team every year. That’s one of the things I took out of (the meetings), they’ve been thereabouts.

“You put in Xavier Mills, Brad Cook, myself and hopefully a couple of others ... a couple of players into a team that’s thereabouts can make a big difference.”

Keane batted his own injury demons in 2014, playing much of the campaign with torn cartilage in both knees.

He managed 14 of a possible 21 matches but hopes to have surgery before Christmas with a view to playing in the season opener.

“It’s not big surgery, it’s minor surgery but it’s a matter of getting it done. I’ll clean that up and should be 100 per cent,” he said. 

Parkinson said he was rapt to secure Keane’s signature — “he’ll certainly be our first ruckman, there’s no doubt about that”.

“He’s a quality player and has played some really good footy, played in the last three grand finals for two flags and been a pivotal part of it.

“To get someone on board with his recent experiences at Panmure is huge for us.”

Parkinson expected Lenehan and Kelly to relish their new roles as key-position players in defence and attack.

“They’re really good ruckmen but they haven’t got the size to compete against some of the bigger ruckmen in the league,” he said.

“The Rhys Raymonds and Zac Picketts and the like. They’ve been out of position.

“Daz is a genuine centre half-back and Lena has played centre half-back and centre half-forward as well. It certainly strengthens up everywhere.”