RIVERINA FOOTBALL LEAGUE
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RIVERINA Football League reigning premier Coolamon has already kicked off its preparations for next season with the signing of ex-AFL player Chris Ladhams.
Just days out from the Hoppers' qualifying final showdown against Mangoplah-Cookardinia United-Eastlakes on Saturday, the club unveiled Ladhams as its first recruit for the 2015 season.
Ladhams played 54 games for Adelaide between 2001-2004 after originally getting picked up by Essendon in the 1998 AFL Draft.
Ladhams was introduced to Coolamon supporters at the club's 120-year celebrations 10 days ago and has since agreed to terms with the Hoppers.
Coolamon has also managed to re-sign captain Jamie Maddox, former AFL player Ben Fixter, Ryan Chamberlain, Ben Edyvean, Connor Neyland and Mitch Stephenson for next season.
Coolamon president John Piltz said the club is delighted that Ladhams chose to join the Hoppers.
"It's fair to say that Chris had plenty of options for next year, but his reasons for joining the Hoppers go beyond just playing football," Piltz said.
"He's great mates with a few of our club members and had been talking about playing with us for several seasons.
"Now the timing is right."
Ladhams, 33, is currently playing under former Coolamon coach Wayne Weidemann at Broadview in division two of the South Australian Amateur Football League.
He has only managed six games due to work commitments but has returned 16 goals and been in the club's top two players on four occasions.
Ladhams coached Ironbank in 2013 in the Hills Football League and kicked 48 goals for the season.
He returned 76 goals and 63 goals in two seasons coaching Jervois in the River Murray Football League prior to that.
Ladhams also played more than 100 games for North Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) and won the club's best and fairest in 2004.
It was the association with Weidemann that played a key role in his decision to link with Coolamon and Piltz believes Ladhams will add a lot of experience to the Coolamon team.
"Wayne had spoken to Chris about his own experience at the Hoppers, about the club and the community and what it meant to him to be a part of it," Piltz said.
"Wayne's selection as the coach of the 40 year team recently underlines how we regard him as a leader within this club so to know he's pushing our cause elsewhere is really great."
The Hoppers have high hopes for Ladhams.
"Chris is a renowned goal kicker, so there's no doubt he'll give us a lot of options on game day," Piltz said.
"But he's also a fantastic on-field leader and this will be really important for developing our team, especially our younger playing group."
Coolamon hopes to land "several" more important re-signings in coming days.
The club is yet to make an announcement about the coaching position with Lew Roberts yet to commit to a further season in charge.
Player Profile
Chris Ladhams
Age: 33
Playing history
1999-2000 Essendon
2001-04 Adelaide Crows
2005-08 North Adelaide
2009-10 Nhill
2011-12 Jervois
2013 Ironbank
2014 Broadview