The former Emmanuel College student grew up in Warrnambool but departed for Geelong more than a decade ago. He carved out a long career at Geelong Football League outfit Leopold.

It was there that Boyd, 31, met new Power mentor Nick Bourke and built a friendship.

That mateship played a part in getting Boyd back to his native patch and the 2010 Warrnambool premiership player said it meant his parents and in-laws could see more of granddaughter Bella.

He will commute weekly from Geelong and is expected to hold a key post in first-year coach Bourke's forward line.

"It was always a bit of a drawcard to finish my career down there but I thought I'd end up back at Warrnambool, to be honest. It just never really eventuated that way," Boyd said.

"It's a bit more appealing now than it has ever been, I guess. It'll be good for the little one to see her grandparents and that was the main reason, really, as well as Nick being there.

"In footy season, playing up here, you can't really go anywhere. You're stuck up here. You play footy on Saturday and finish at 5pm and then you've only got the Sunday, to be honest."

Boyd said the chance to push for success and simply enjoy his footy was attractive in the twilight of his career.

He said he was aware of the Power's long-standing winning culture and was excited to be a part of it.

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"I've been fortunate enough to be at some pretty successful clubs. I probably played in three or four premierships as a junior at Warrnambool and senior level as well," Boyd said.

"That was probably one of the other drawcards with the Power. Getting towards the end of my career, I'm certainly chasing some success. I missed out on Leopold's premiership in 2016 due to a quad injury.

"Hopefully we'll be able to win a premiership on the back of an injury and that would mean a hell of a lot to me. That was definitely something that was appealing. The country feel I get from them down there.

"It's just that community feel and that's what footy is all about. They all love it, they get 200-plus people before COVID for meals on a Thursday night.

"It's a very involved footy club in the community and that's something I wanted to be a part of as well."

Boyd said he was proud of his time at Leopold but lamented a tough run with injuries over the course of his stint in the state's top-ranked country footy league.

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"I had lots of injuries in that middle stage of my career. I broke my collarbone, had a compound fracture in my finger, did a medial in my knee, I tore a quad, did a hammy, did a calf, I did probably nearly everything you can think of," he said.

"I've missed a lot footy so I didn't get as much out of it as I'd have liked but over the last couple of years, pre-COVID, I felt like I started to read my body a little bit better and get some good footy in and some consistency.

"There's been that bit of a positional change as well. I played a lot of centre half-forward when I was younger and I'm playing a lot more full-forward now. That changes as it's a bit easier on the body. All that sort of stuff is factored in.

"Looking back, I'll always be proud. Mainly it's the relationships I've developed and the people I've met up here and I've got friends for life now. Nick (Bourke) is one of those as I didn't actually know him down in Warrnambool."

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