DUAL Heathcote District Football-Netball League Cheatley medallist Ben Johnston is among four recruits joining White Hills.
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Wingman Johnston won back-to-back Cheatley Medals in 2008-09 playing for Colbinabbin, before spending the past seven years in Perth.
However, Johnston is returning to Victoria and will continue his career not at the club where he won his two league medals, as well as a premiership in 2008, but instead at HDFNL rival White Hills.
The Demons are being coached by Brent Millar, who previously coached Johnston at Colbinabbin.
“Ben is a silky ball user, who very rarely makes a bad decision, and at his best he has already shown in the Heathcote league what he’s capable of,” Millar said.
“But he’s just a great fella with great character, who is going to fit in very well at the footy club.”
The Demons’ signings also include Kris Bedford, who was a member of Bunyip’s losing grand final team in the Ellinkbank District league this year. Bedford kicked 46 goals this year.
“The reports we’ve got is that Kris is a very handy half-forward/midfielder, so we’re looking forward to bringing him into the club,” Millar said.
The Demons have also boosted their big man stocks with the addition of Lachlan Sidebottom from Melton in the Ballarat league.
And the Demons have also secured the signing of Sean Christopher, who spent this year playing in the reserves with SANFL club Glenelg.
Millar expects Christopher to add plenty of versatility to the Demons through his capacity to play either centre half-forward or centre half-back.
Christopher is a former team-mate at Horsham of White Hills’ Jake Ward, who will co-captain the Demons next season with Gavin Bowles.
“He’s a six-foot-four player who can play key position at both ends,” Millar said.
“Knowing that we’ve got these guys already, it gives us a real good opportunity from the start of pre-season to get an understanding of how they go about it and the way they play, so it’s exciting for the club.”
The Demons also have ruckman Matt Lehane returning from a knee injury that had him sidelined for all of 2016.
The Demons will begin their pre-season training on Wednesday, November 30.
White Hills are coming off a season in which they won five games and finished seventh.
