The Wollongong-based 26-year-old played the last two seasons with his junior club, including winning the Hoppers' best and fairest in 2018, but draining travel commitments forced his hand.

He joins fellow star midfielder Luke Redfern in leaving the club, who will play for SANFL outfit West Adelaide next year.

"I live in Wollongong so it's always going to be hard to keep going back," Pleming said.

"It was a tough decision but this year, with my workload here, I would have struggled to get back if the season went ahead properly.

"There's always a chance I'll go back to Coolamon, that's for sure. But with work-life balance at the moment, spending ten hours in the car on the weekend does wear you out, and not training as well also has an impact."

Pleming said the club has the depth to cover his and Redfern's departures, especially with the recruitment of prime mover Jeremy Sykes from Turvey Park.

"He's a very good player and was a good leader at Turvey. I'm sure he'll have no trouble fitting in," Pleming said.

"I'm not too sure who else they've recruited but I know they haven't lost a whole heap. Considering they picked up Marshal Macauley and a few others to start the season, they'll be fine."

Jake Barrett was due to begin his coaching stint at Coolamon this year before the club opted not to take part.

He said their ability to retain the vast majority of the team who would have played in 2020 will hold them in good stead.

"Losing Nick isn't great either but that's why we started talking to Sykes, he'll bring a lot of knowledge.

"We've still got players like Jeremiah Maslin, Max Hillier Hayden Bradley and Jamie Maddox (who can play midfield)."

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