Peter Ladhams says the direction and ambition of the Sydney Swans is what drew the 23-year-old ruckman to sign with the red and white.
Joining the Swans club’s ruck stocks after a deal was struck with Port Adelaide during the trade period last month, Ladhams arrived at his new club on Monday morning to join his new teammates in the second week of pre-season training.
Recruited to Port Adelaide via the 2017 rookie draft, Ladhams has played 32 career matches since debuting in 2019.
He played 17 matches with Port in 2021, including the qualifying and preliminary finals.
The ambition of wanting to play finals football, as well as learning from AFL Hall of Famer Dean Cox appeals to the new recruit.
“I managed to play finals last year, and so did the Swans, so I was keen to come to a club which had the same ambition,” Ladhams said.
“It’s a great young group, and a lot of players are similar age to myself but we have some older players as well which is a good balance.”
“Having Dean Cox here as a coach and as a mentor will be awesome,” Ladhams added.
“He was one of the best ruckmen going around for the past twenty years so it would be great for me to improve my ruck craft, which is something I have to work on.”
The 202cm Ladhams will initially continue in the forward/ruck role that he regularly played at the Power while also supporting 30-year-old Tom Hickey in the ruck.
“My preferred position is in the ruck but I went up forward a little bit, which was something I had to do last year to get myself into the team, but wherever I need to play I will be happy,” he said.
“The first session was good to just blow out a few cobwebs and have a kick around,” he added.
“It was good to just meet everyone including the coaches, because I could only meet them through Zoom due to the Covid-19 situation but it’s good to finally be in Sydney and get started.”
Ladhams said the move from Adelaide to Sydney has been an exciting one, having only visited the harbour city once previously.
Making the move last Friday, Ladham's said his transition and welcome has been enjoyable, topped off by spending time at the ‘much-nicer’ beaches (compared to his former state of residence).
“I have never played at the SCG and I have only really been to Sydney once in my life so it’s a totally new experience for me but I am really enjoying it so far,” Ladhams said.
“It’s really exciting for myself. Getting across on Friday and meeting all the boys and staff today has been awesome.
“They have been really welcoming and they are a good group of lads. I had a dinner with most of the young boys last night and that was good to meet everyone.”
