Key Eaglehawk midfielder Brodie Collins, one of the most competitive players in the BFNL at the time, was given a "hiding" by a young buck from Kyabram.

That young buck was Tom Holman and from next season he'll play under Collins at Lockington-Bamawm United after signing with the Cats for 2021.

A cousin of LBU siblings Ben and James McPhee, Holman joins the Cats after playing in four flags with the Bombers in the GVFL.

"I played on him when he was a kid and he gave me a hiding, so I knew he was a good player,'' Collins said of Holman.

"He's matured now, he's won flags with Kyabram and played inter-league for the GVFL, so he's a serious talent.

"Tom's old man played for Locky, he grew up in the area and he has family connections with the McPhee boys, so it was a good fit for us.

"Basically, he wants to play with his cousins, so we're very happy to have him."

One of Holman's biggest strengths is his flexibility.

Collins said his best footy with Kyabram was across half-back, but he could easily slot into the midfield or go forward.

"He'll probably start down back, but I'm of the opinion that we need to be flexible with our side,'' Collins said.

"There'll be some weeks where he gets a big job down back and there'll be other weeks where he can run up the ground and save the legs of some other guys.

"You need to be able to play four or five different positions whether it's round one or grand final day. Anything is possible."

The Cats have retained the group that signed for the 2020 season except for midfielder Zeik Johnston, who has joined MCDFNL club Natte Bealiba.

"We're not actively looking for recruits... but our door is always open for young players who grew up with the club and have gone to play elsewhere,'' Collins said.

"We're not going hard with recruits, we're very happy with the list we've got."

COVID-19 restrictions pending, Collins would like to get the Cats back on the training track prior to Christmas.

"We'd like to hit the ground hard and go for it, but there's not much planning we can do at the moment,'' he said.

"We might send out some individual programs for players to do and see what the restrictions look like.

"Ideally, it would be nice to get a few sessions in before Christmas, but it won't be a huge concern if we can't."

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