WITH the dust still settling on the 2014 season, Leeton-Whitton has already turned its attention to next year by naming three key signings for 2015.

The Crows used presentation night to announce they had signed former Crows juniors Toby Conroy and Mitch Heaslip, as well as Neil Irwin, all from AFL Canberra club Queanbeyan.

With finding players getting harder for country clubs, Leeton-Whitton has been proactive and got into its recruiting rhythm early to nail down some experience to back up those that led a growing pool of talented juniors this year.

"We had been in contact with Toby for the last couple of years," club president Mick Fraser said.

"He was keen to come home and have a run and finish where he started.

"As (coach) Dave (Meline) said, most of the games this year we were in, we just faded out at the end. A cool head or an older head might have swung it our way.

"It takes a lot of pressure off 'Pup' (Bryce O'Garey), 'Curls' (Ben Curley), 'Sully' (Daniel Sullivan) and 'Keg' (Sean Browning). You could see this year taking a toll on them, although they were still brilliant with the kids."

Conroy had been a point of contact for the Crows and he sounded out other recruits.

"We're not just grabbing anyone, we're getting juniors back," Fraser said. "They are well known and it also gets interest around the town."

The experienced trio was part of the Tigers team that defeated Sydney Swans to win the 2012 North East AFL (NEAFL) Eastern Conference premiership and were also involved when Queanbeyan won the 2014 AFL Canberra division one title earlier this month.

After a tough 2014 season, Queanbeyan has withdrawn from the semi-professional NEAFL and the structure of football in Canberra is uncertain at this stage.

As a result, Conroy said it was the ideal time to return to his home club.

"I always said I would come back one day," he said.

"With all the changes to footy in Canberra the timing was right. It was a good opportunity to take before it got too late."

The trio will live in Canberra and join the growing number of travelling recruits in the Riverina and Farrer competitions.

"We plan to travel together ... we'll train together in Canberra," Conroy said.

"The guys I'm bringing are all pretty happy to be involved and will fit in.

"When the club approached me, the first bloke I spoke to was Mitch and he said if we could get a group together he would certainly consider it."

All three have a strong football background and plenty of experience.

After a couple of senior games in 1999 for the Crows, Conroy played in the club's first under 18s grand final in 2000, losing to Turvey Park.

Moving to Mebourne to study, he had stints with Sandringham and Frankston in the VFL before moving to Canberra and playing with the Queanbeyan club for the last five seasons.

Irwin is a life-long Queanbeyan player with over 200 games under his belt and life membership at the Tigers.

Best known as a defender, he played in the ruck in the NEAFL premiership. However, he was swung forward in the 2014 AFL Canberra grand final and kicked five goals, which Fraser said would likely be his role at Leeton-Whitton.

Conroy may have played in the Crows' first under 18s grand final, but Heaslip went one better when he played in the 2003 under 18s decider that produced the club's first premiership.

Heaslip arrived in Queanbeyan at the same time as Conroy.

"He's a utility player," Conroy said. "He's most at home in the middle, but he's a Mr Fix-it.

"In my five years I don't think there's a position he hasn't played. He gets thrown around where needed and saves his biggest performances for grand finals."

Like the Crows in 2014, Queanbeyan also had a young list this year with only eight or 10 players from the 2012 premiership in the team. Conroy said the Canberra-based players would bring experience to what he hoped would be a successful year.

"We've got a fair bit of footy under our belts, we're wise old heads and slightly bigger bodies," he said.

"We can provide leadership and direction, and take the pressure off the guys that are here."

Like Fraser, Meline was happy to sign up some experience to his first grade team.

"Mitch and Toby were some of the first guys to go away and play at a high level so it is fantastic they are coming back to the club," he said.

"I'm rapt. We've been trying (to get them) for a couple of seasons.

"With the crop of young fellas coming through, the timing to get experienced local fellas back was fantastic."