The Pigeons' junior played senior football in 2015-16 before joining Beaconsfield in the AFL Outer East Football League.

The 197cm Welsh left at 95kgs, but now tops the three-figure mark after filling out.

"I just really want to follow up on my ruck work and try and make myself into another on-baller and hopefully get a release up forward and kick some goals," he said of the move.

The Pigeons are delighted another local has returned home.

"Riley and his family have long-standing connections with the Pigeons with his father Russell a former long-term member of the club's board," a club spokesperson said.

"The Pigeons could not be any happier having lured Riley home from Mornington in the strong Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League."

Welsh was planning to play with Mornington but it was a victim of COVID.

Interestingly, the COVID pandemic has played a role in Welsh's return.

"When it hit, I pretty much missed my family a fair bit as well," he said.

And he maintains the strict lockdowns in Melbourne over recent months could result in more players across football leagues playing back at home.

"100 percent, when I'm talking to blokes, like I'm really good mates with James Elliott and he said to me a lot of times, he's missing home," Welsh said.

'It's been tough (the lockdowns), you can't do anything, you can't go out and you can't catch up with your mates.

"It's been lucky I had work (electrical apprentice), we've worked through and I'm in a pretty chummy sort of workplace."

This year's O and M season promised to be one of the most competitive in years with Yarrawonga expected to be among seven genuine finals contenders.

Although teams aren't expected to change too much next year given the reduced salary cap - although Albury has already picked up two players who last spent time in the AFL in Jeff Garlett (Melbourne, 2019) and Anthony Miles (Gold Coast Suns, 2020) - it will be interesting to gauge motivation levels after a year off.

"They're (the Yarrawonga players) really confident, obviously they're going to have a real crack at it next year, 'Lavi's' obviously really good and Myrtleford's got big Dawson Simpson," Welsh said.

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After the false start of this year, Simpson is still yet to debut with the Saints, while the Pigeons also have their own superstar duo in Willie Wheeler and Leigh Masters after VFL careers.

The Pigeons missed finals after 13 straight campaigns.