Harry Macreadie helps out home club Henty during Victorian lockdown

Harry Macreadie headed back home to the family farm before the announcement of the Victorian lockdown last week, and the timing couldn't have been better with Swampies coach Heath Ohlin unable to travel to the club as he resides in Wodonga.

The former Carlton player signed for Williamstown in the VFL this year and played the first five games of the season after he was delisted by the Blues on nine matches at the end of 2020.

Ohlin will take back the reins for Henty's trip to Howlong on Saturday as the easing of restrictions in regional Victoria on Friday allow him to reunite with his side.

He said it was great to have a player of Macreadie's calibre wanting to stay involved with the club.

"He did all the pre-Christmas training with us and then took off down to Melbourne to play with Williamstown," Ohlin said.

"He was back up at Easter and when the VFL had a bye a couple of weeks ago he did the running for the seconds.

"It's good to have him around the place and involved and I think he'll stay around until everything settles down.

"I might lose my job actually if he does too good of a job, so I'll have to be careful there (laughs).

"We've got four blokes who live in Wodonga, so hopefully we'll still be able to get a touch having not been able to train all week."

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Ohlin didn't rule out the possibility of Macreadie playing for his home club if the VFL shutdown is prolonged.

"We don't know what's going to happen with the VFL, but given he's been so involved with the club, we'd have to explore the option if it worked," Ohlin said.

"But if we had to drop too many guys to bring him in, it makes it hard.

"When the O and M had its bye (two weeks ago), we looked at Sam Murray possibly coming in for a game, but it was going to be too hard with the group.

"You've got to balance bringing in a good player, but also not upsetting what you're trying to build in terms of your group."

The Swampies are also set to welcome Toby Murray for his first game of the season with the Murray Bushrangers and Wangaratta Rovers both out of action due to the lockdown.

"He's been with us anyway and trains with us on Tuesday and Thursday and does his Bushies stuff on Wednesday," Ohlin said.

"We're not putting any pressure on him being so young.

"One of his best mates, Charlie Doig, played his first senior game in round two and has been there ever since, so it will be good to see them playing together.

"Whenever he's available, we'd love to have him."

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