2016 The Recruit winner Matt Eagles and Mitchell Hinge sign on as Category B and
A rookies.
Eagles will now complete his third year at the club that he choose to play for.
"When the Club said they wanted to extend my contract for another year, it was overwhelming,” Eagles told the club's website.
“I’m obviously really happy and I look forward to putting in more hard work.”
In 2017, he was one of the best defenders in the Lions' NEAFL side in which they won the premiership that year.
Eagles made his debut against the Pies in round seven this year at the age of 28. He played in his first win against the Hawks and kicked his first goal much to his teammates delight.
Unfortunately the defender's season was over in round 10 where he suffered an abdominal injury against the Swans. Eagles went on to have groin surgery but will be fit for the 2019 season.
David Noble, General Manager of Football, praised his hard work ethic.
“Matt has continued to improve and his strong performance at AFL level made it an easy decision to offer him a contract,” he said.
“He’s a really popular player amongst the group with a great work ethic to match.”
Noble goes on to say that Hinge earned his contract after showing great potential in the NEAFL season.
“We’ve seen continued improvement in Mitch’s game this year. We really like the work he’s done off half back and on the wing,” Noble said.
“On top of that, he’s a good person, a popular player and shows a lot of potential for the style of game we want to play.
“We’re happy that he’s another one of the young crew that have wanted to re-sign.”
Hinge has played 15 games for the Lions NEAFL team this season and was apart of the AFLX winning side in the pre season.
"I have loved my time here over the past couple of years. There were no questions about putting pen to paper for another year,” Hinge said.
Like Eagles, Hinge's year was stopped early due to an injury that required surgery to his shoulder.
The 20 year old hopes to make his debut in 2019 in what will also be his third year as a Lion.
"To live your childhood dream would be truly incredible. So hopefully a good strong pre-season and off-season here and we’ll get closer to that goal,” Hinge said.
