James Rahilly, who has been a crucial part of Geelong's development program for more than a decade, has joined the Crows as a forward-line coach for season 2021.

The former Hampden league player notched up 90 AFL games for the Cats between 1998 and 2005.

He joined Chris Scott's senior coaching staff in 2011.

His roles have included being Geelong's academy manager and head of development.

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Crows head of football Adam Kelly is stoked to have someone of Rahilly's calibre on board.

"James is a great fit for the current evolution of our playing group," he said.

"Importantly, his skills and experience complement the rest of our coaching panel and he also brings a wealth of knowledge from working in Geelong's program."

Rahilly will be joined by fellow assistants Scott Burns and Nathan van Berlo, who are also new to the Crows' coaching ranks.

"Our off-season focus was to strengthen our football department with coaches who have been in successful or premiership-winning football programs and we feel that has been achieved," Kelly said.

Adelaide's pre-season starts in early December.

Rahilly played his junior footy at South Warrnambool and was picked up by Geelong in the 1997 AFL draft.

He had another stint with the Roosters in the Hampden league in 2007.

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