A best and fairest winner with VFL outfit Sandringham, Tregear featured in the Eastern Football League club’s best in 11 of the 15 matches last season.

“He had a very good year playing down back,” Balwyn coach Eade said.

“He’s got very high footy IQ, reads the game extremely well, is a very good kick, a very good mark for his size and very good one-on-one.”

Tregear’s signing is the top-liner the Roos have been chasing as they look to continue their resurrection.

“He’s an elite kick, a left-footer, unbelievable skills and hits the scoreboard,” coach Marc Almond said.

And the Roos owe their five-star signing to a chance meeting with another recruit at the races.

“He played against (Vermont’s) Andrew Pretto, who said he was coming to Corowa and Shane was looking for a change and it went from there,” Almond said.

Interestingly, Pretto was tipped to the club after a random call from another member of the Roos’ higher-profile recruits in Rohan Davies.

The trio are super fit, professional players which Almond believes can only improve his young list.

“The first year was about regrouping and putting plans in place that the players can really buy into,” he said.

“We worked to make an environment that players wanted to be at.

“We feel we’ve accomplished that and we’ve built some depth in the club from the bush.

“The next year we wanted to add some real quality, which we think we’ve done.”​