Purtell, who was named the Canberra Raiders rookie of the year in his maiden season in 2006, was announced as coach for the Mighty Tigers on social media on Friday.

"Yeah there's a bit of excitement around town about it all," said Tigers committee member Ian Smith.

Purtell's Dad Brian had coached at the Tigers for a number of years through the 70s and 80s before moving to Albury where Adrian was born.

Smith said the club had approached Brian for his thoughts on a coaching applicant and had joked that maybe they could lure Adrian into the role.

"One of the old stalwarts rang Adrian's Dad Brian to get his opinion about this bloke who had put in to coach, and hinted that Adrian might want to take up the post in his old stomping ground," Smith recalled with a laugh.

But the Tigers found themselves equally thrilled and shocked when two days later Adrian called back and said he was interested.

Purtell has plenty of world-stage skill after 64 games for the Raiders, before moving to the Penrith Panthers where he played a further 46 games and finished the 2010 season in second place with the club.

He then moved to England to play Super League where he played five seasons with the Bradford Bulls and one year with the London Broncos, finishing in 2018.

Smith said the signing was a real coup for the Tigers who had suffered under a weight of injuries in the 2021 season. A few of the senior playing group had put together some ideas to try and pursue a high profile coach for the next season and you won't find many better than a 100-game NRL player with six years of Super League experience to boot.

Smith said excitement is palpable at the Tigers, who have already been making inroads to some pre-season with about 20 blokes showing up to some training runs over the past month.

Purtell will make the shift from Albury to Eden this week and join the club for his maiden training run on Thursday night where players will have a run and a casual barbecue with the incoming coach.

However, Smith said the Tigers know supporters will be keen to meet Purtell and have also arranged a public meet and greet for Friday from 6pm at the Great Southern Inn.