Myrtleford secure the prized signature of Ryan Griffen

Speculation had been rife that Griffen was on the Saints' recruiting radar after having previously played alongside co-coach Dawson Simpson at GWS Giants.

Despite not playing for the past three seasons, Griffen is still expected to provide a powerful injection of class and experience into the Saints' midfield and across half-forward.

Delighted Myrtleford president Ian Wales said the Saints were able to seal the deal with the former Western Bulldogs captain earlier this week.

"It's a huge coup for the club and I guess you could say that his record speaks for itself," Wales said.

"Yes, he is 35 but there are a lot of blokes that age that have finished in the AFL but can still find the footy.

"I suppose the classic example is Daniel Cross at Albury, he is 39 now and how good has he been for the Tigers since he arrived at the sportsground?"

Wales revealed Griffen wouldn't be rushed into the Saints' line-up for this weekend's crunch clash against Wangaratta Rovers.

The 35-year-old was most likely to make his highly-anticipated debut in round four against league powerhouse Albury.

"Ryan has informed us that he is still a few weeks away from playing," he said.

"He will train down in Melbourne and travel up with our other Melbourne based players.

"I remember Gary Ablett Snr didn't arrive at McNamara Reserve until round five in 1983.

"By the end of the season he seemed to be going pretty well for us."

Wales also revealed the club finding Griffen suitable employment in Melbourne had been the final stumbling block to seal the deal.

"Corey Brady from Brady Tiling in Melbourne has been a great supporter of the club," Wales said.

"Corey became aware that we were on the lookout for a job for Ryan and told me that he could make it happen.

"True to his word, he did."

Griffen played 257 AFL matches before retiring in 2018.

He also captained the Bulldogs in 2014 and was a triple best and fairest winner at Whitten Oval.

The classy midfielder last played when he made a cameo appearance for a district league club in South Australia which his brother coached in 2019.

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Wales said Simpson was instrumental in Griffen joining Myrtleford.

"Dawson asked me if we would be interested in signing Ryan," Wales said.

"I said obviously I would be, but we haven't got much room left in the salary cap.

"A player of Ryan's calibre usually comes with a hefty sum.

"When Dawson told me the figure that Ryan was requesting I was quite surprised and it wasn't much higher than your average player.

"I guess you could say the rest is history."

Simpson said there would be no pressure on Griffen to be a match-winner.

"First and foremost, we don't want to put any pressure on him," Simpson said.

"Knowing Ryan and the person he is, he stepped away from the pressure of AFL footy and not really being interested in playing much local level footy.

"He caught up with family and friends and travelled, he had a good time doing that, so we won't place too many expectations on him, we just want him to enjoy his footy."

"Naturally, he'll bring, to a certain level, what he did at AFL level, elite skill level with the ball, can play all over the ground, forward, back, wing, inside mid.

"We won't expect him to be playing the first three or four rounds, he's just going to take his time, he has some family and work commitments he'll attend to."

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