Jared Brennan will pull on the jumper for Violet Town on Saturday in the round two blockbuster match against Avenel.
The 173-game utility, who wowed spectators at his Brisbane Lions and Gold Coast Suns stints, will complement a Violet Town outfit oozing with class.
Forward maestro Josh Mellington banged home 12 majors in the opening round win over Shane Crawford's Ardmona, while on-ballers Ollie Ford, Lachie Baldwin and Nick Brazil gathered plenty of the ball.
But the Towners will face a giant rise in competition when they welcome Avenel to Violet Town Recreation Reserve.
And playing coach Joel Price knows it.
“We are looking forward to what is a huge challenge on Saturday against Avenel,” Price said.
“They have picked up a number of big recruits and they showed last weekend that they are a serious premiership contender.
“It was nice to get the first win (last weekend). I was impressed with Ardmona and full credit to Shane for what he has been able to do.
“I was impressed with our performance, but we have got a lot to improve on.
“But we go in confident that our best is able to match it with the best.”
Avenel playing coach Kasey Duncan said his side was eager to back up last weekend's win over Nagambie.
Duncan said his charges would need to cut off supply to Violet Town's potent forward Mellington.
“I would imagine that they will go quick, long and direct to Mellington,” Duncan said.
“We will get a structure in place to try and deal with their forwards. We need to keep the fight in the midfield and I think that will be an important area of the game.
“We are really looking forward to testing ourselves against another quality side and hopefully we can back up our performance against Nagambie.”
Brennan is certain to benefit the Towners this season against the some of the best in the competition.
The silky mover can help fill a range of positions.
Price said the 36-year-old would run off half-back, attend centre bounces or even drift forward — highlighted by his career-best seven-goal haul for Brisbane.
“The whole club is rapt to have Jared on board this year,” Price said.
“He is a great on-field leader, quality player and he has so much knowledge on the game that will benefit all the younger guys.
“We will look to use him all over the ground, be that floating across half-back or pinch-hitting in the midfield.”
The inclusion of Brennan adds another element of excitement to Saturday's game for Violet Town supporters.
It will be the first game at the Towners’ home ground since 2019, and it will be the start of celebrating the club's 125th anniversary.
Girgarre gets a chance to redeem itself following the opening round loss to Lancaster.
Playing coach Billy Barnes praised his young charges when he spoke after the nine-point defeat.
The first-year coach said his side had its backs against the wall after three players went down with injuries.
‘‘We had three players off the ground in the first term who didn’t return, so we were up against it a bit,” Barnes said.
“But I was happy with how we fought it out and the efforts of some of our younger players.
“It was a good sign for the future.”
Stanhope will front up for the first time in 2021 after facing the bye in round one.
It will be an all-Lions affair as Stanhope welcomes first-round winner Undera.
Incoming Stanhope coaches Mark Patten and Denis Grinton will be hoping to kick their campaigns off in style.
Dookie United and Murchison-Toolamba will look to remain undefeated when they take on Tallygaroopna and Rushworth respectively.
Merrigum squares off against rival Lancaster and Shepparton East heads down to challenge Longwood.
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