Spencer departs Hume league club Brock-Burrum and will be an assistant to Josh Warren at the Hawks.

The 28-year-old said he was close to hanging up the boots after the Saints' 2019 Hume league grand final loss to Osborne, but recommitted for a second season only for it be cancelled by COVID-19.

A connection with Warren, a former teammate at Rutherglen and a desire to coach down the track ultimately lured Spencer to North Wangaratta.

"The club in general seems like a really genuine club that's been down for a while, so to go out there and help the next stage of the rebuild was pretty enticing," he said.

"I loved it at Brock-Burrum, it was only one season in the end and it would have been nice to win a grand final out there, but I'm getting a bit older and I want to start coaching.

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"I saw this as a pretty good opportunity.

"It was to help Josh in a sense and it's not a token assistant role because I'll be helping out behind the scenes with game plans, structures, recruiting and so forth.

"It's a full on role and I'm pretty keen to eventually become a senior coach, whether it's there or not, but this is definitely a stepping stone in that direction."

Spencer is also looking forward to playing outside the Albury-Wodonga bubble having had stints in the Ovens and Murray, Tallangatta and Hume leagues.

"I remember my pop and uncle talking about the O and K days because they used to play at Chiltern when they were in the league," he said.

"I've always wanted to play out there and this came up and it seemed like a really good fit."

Dallas Coleman was set to co-coach with Warren this year but will take on a director of coaching role at the club in 2021.

Spencer said the Hawks may potentially appoint another assistant to complete the senior coaching group.