Priest said Hubbard was one of his first targets to get back to the Eagles’ nest after shifting to Elmore together at the end of the 2019 season.
“I spoke to Phil early days when I was thinking about doing it (coaching at United), and would he was interested, and he said we'll see what happens,” Priest said.
“He was always going to be up there as a top one pick to get back to the club for two reasons — he can play the game and the other, to have a wise head around and help further develop this younger squad we've got. He's just a competitive warrior.
“It's turned out really good; he was 100 per cent on board once I took the role.”
Hubbard's season at Elmore came to an abrupt end this year, first managing two games before doing a significant hamstring injury.
Priest is confident Hubbard will be ready to rock and roll by the time pre-season comes around.
“He's back into the running side of things, he's just slowly building strength back into it,” Priest said.
Along with Hubbard, the club also announced a host of re-signings at the club, led by two experienced heads in Justin Cantwell and Peter Quanchi.
“They've been great since day one; when I took the job on they basically said they would be sticking around from day one,” Priest said.
“Its important to bring in those experienced players to help mould these younger ones too.”
Shoring up the club's existing talent pool was Priest's number one goal when walking back into the club, with a majority of United's younger talent also making up the bulk of the Eagles’ early re-signings.
Angus Jackson, Bailey Sawyer and ruckman Darcy Ramage lead the re-signings, along with cousins Corey and Jesse Garner, Josh Beveridge, Kynan Sharpe and Lachlan Egglestone.
“We got around to 99 per cent of that list, and a lot of them have agreed to come back,” he said.
“A lot of it is keeping the juniors at the club and they had a good experience last season with all the senior games they got into them.
“We're hoping they take another step next year after a full pre-season.”
Rounding out the group are the likes of Mason Coote, who managed one senior appearance in 2021, along with reserve players in Connor Shannon and Zak Hard, who will be looking for more senior opportunities next season.
“Our conversations with those boys was ‘come ready for pre-season’," Priest said.
“The good thing about myself coming in is everyone is back to level playing field.
“Throughout pre-season and even in the practice matches there is no number one spot, everyone is getting picked on merit of what they are putting in and how they are tracking fitness wise.
“I think it will build that really competitive edge among those younger guys to fight for spots.
“The main thing was, once you come to pre-season and you're ready to learn and put the hard work in you're going to picked.”
Though it is only early days of any off-season mechanics for many clubs, Priest said he was confident the rest of the club's list would shape up nicely in the coming month.
“We're really knocking on the door of four or five guys who we're hoping to get over,” he said.
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