Geelong's latest boom recruit, Toby Greene, has spoken of his excitement around his move to Kardinia Park, after his being unveiled in the Cats' famed hoops for the first time.
After 15 years and countless signature moments in the orange and charcoal of the AFL's youngest club, Greene exercised his free agency rights and defected to the modern powerhouse, citing a desire to raise his family in the familiar pastures of his home state.
An existing relationship with best friend Jeremy Cameron - a player who made the same switch some six years ago - was also offered as a compelling factor in the decision.
Greene gave insight into his relationship with Cameron, in speaking to Cats media on Friday.
"(It's) super exciting," Greene said.
"Round 1, hopefully everything's going well, and playing his 300th will be amazing. I can't wait to play in that game.
"We had a great friendship playing on-field and off-field at the Giants, stayed really close since that. Our daughters are really close now.
"I would've been in trouble without him this week - I'm that bad on the tools, and he's the opposite, so he saved us this week, unpacking the house and putting things up.
"I'm really looking forward to spending a bit of time on his farm, and continuing our friendship," Greene finished, offering that the thick-as-thieves pair are eyeing the purchase of a boat, too.
The Cats' significant footprint in the landscape and perpetual state of competitiveness were ultimately too appealing for the 33-year-old to turn down, despite significant interest from elsewhere.
"It's a great footy town, Geelong," Greene said.
"(It's) a club I've always highly respected from the outside, (I've) competed against them for the last 15 years - and they've been good for a lot longer than that.
"(The move) is something we would have done post-footy, but can now really enjoy footy and try to do that (build a family) at the same time as well. Looking forward to the next phase of our life."
In a footballing sense, the three-time All-Australian does not anticipate his role at his new club differing too much from the role he mastered at his old one, and is excited to play with talent young and less so under Chris Scott's watchful eye.
"I know my role will be pretty similar - mostly forward, a little bit of midfield, make sure I'm nice and fit and healthy going into the year, (so) I can try and impact as much as possible, whether that's high half-forward or a little bit of midfield," Greene said.
"(There's) a lot of serious young talent here, and some guys like myself, "Stewy" (Tom Stewart), "Danger" (Patrick Dangerfield), "Jez" in the back end of our careers - we'll be looking to help those boys as much as possible.
"I'm really excited about building relationships with them, trying to help where possible, and I'm sure I'll be learning a few things off them, and learning a new game plan as well.
"It'll be really unique for me. I played 15 years at the Giants, and it's something that I really loved. Now the last few years of my career, to play down in Geelong, a club I've had the ultimate respect for - and I think most of the competition would say the same - I can't wait."
