The 22-year-old signed with the Magpies during a meeting with club president Caleb Kuhle and senior coach Don Moran at Camp Reserve on Monday afternoon.

Henderson, who played his junior football with the Magpies before crossing to Strathfieldsaye, hopes to remain in Richmond's VFL list in 2022 and align with Castlemaine.

"I think he's one of the biggest signings we've had in the last 10 years,'' Kuhle said of Henderson.

"On the field, Bailey is a very good player, but it's also very important to us off the field both socially and politically.

"He moved away and played with Strathfieldsaye and had success and experienced professionalism at that club.

"To have him come back to Castlemaine just shows how far we've come as a club in the past two years and it says a fair bit about Bailey's character as a person."

When Kuhle and Moran took over as president and coach two years ago, their number one goal was to attract locally-raised players back to Castlemaine.

Henderson was number one on the list and the Pies' hierarchy hoped his signing will create a domino effect with other players in the region.

"He's really keen and he's exactly what the footy club needs,'' Moran said of Henderson.

"It's not just his playing record and everything he's achieved at such a young age, it's the mantra of this footy club of attracting young players back to our club.

"We've stuck fat with that plan and Bailey, we hope, is the first of several this pre-season to come home to the Camp Reserve.

"Bailey loved his footy with Strathfieldsaye, but all of his mates are in Castlemaine and he's always said that.

"He's looking forward to coming back to play with them."

Moran said with the Magpies winless since round one of the 2018 season and the lure of, potentially, more premiership success with Strathfieldsaye in front of him, it would have been easy for Henderson to say no to Castlemaine's advances.

"I've always known Bailey is a ripper kid, but through this process he couldn't have been more impressive,'' Moran said.

"He hasn't just totally dismissed Strath, he's spoken with (Strath coach) Darryl (Wilson) and the club there has been fantastic with Bailey.

"He's been upfront throughout the process which is not something you don't always get from footballers."

Wilson said Henderson returns to Castlemaine with the Storm's best wishes.

"Bailey made the decision that he wanted to play for Castlemaine and I'm very happy for him and Castlemaine,'' Wilson said.

"I've said it a million times that I get no joy out of a major league competition that is imbalanced the way our league is.

"We were lucky enough to have Bailey for when we did and we're proud of the way he's developed as a player - and we think we had a part in that.

"Bailey is a tremendous kid and that's more important in life. We wish him the best of luck."

While the Pies have a lot of ground to make up on the top teams, Henderson returns to the Camp Reserve with dreams of joining his father, Dean, as a Castlemaine premiership player.

Dean Henderson and Moran were team-mates in Castlemaine's 1992 premiership team.

"Dean was a great player for the club and he's a great fella to have around the footy club,'' Moran said.

"Having his son Bailey come back to the club is a great sign for us. I'm really buoyed by it."

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