Merrivale's midfield will receive a huge boost on Saturday with the addition of big name recruit Blair McCutcheon.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The young onballer, who signed with the Warrnambool and District league club this week, recently returned to the south-west from Brisbane after a stint with NEAFL club Redland.
McCutcheon has also played in premierships with Koroit in the Hampden league.
Tigers coach Jason Rowan said McCutcheon's experience would be an asset to the club.
"It's good to recruit a high-profile player who has Hampden league premiership experience," he said.
"He's going to be great working with our midfielders.
"He came down for his first hit out with the boys on Tuesday night."
Rowan said his new recruit would be rotated through the midfield during Saturday's match against Dennington.
Merrivale list manager Matthew Gleeson said he was pleased to have McCutcheon on board but understood it was a hard decision for the premiership-winning Saint to make.
"Blair's got the utmost respect for Koroit," he said
"It was a very, very difficult decision for him not to play there again."
Gleeson said McCutcheon was a valuable addition to the club.
"He's going to drag a few of our young fellas along with him with his standards that he knows from training at that level and the environment he grew up in at Koroit," he said.
He said the Tigers decided to pursue McCutcheon because he had moved to Merrivale and had friends at the club.
"Blair's got some good friends down at Merrivale, we've got a lot of guys his age," he said.
Have you signed up to The Standard's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in the south-west.