Blake Coad remains hungry for next Premier League chapter at Corrimal

The Rangers announced on Saturday that they had lured the 2023 District League goalkeeper of the year from Shellharbour.

Coad arrives at the club having tasted plenty of success in the DL, including winning this year's championship with Harbour and the 2022 grand final with Unanderra.

It's a homecoming for the 26-year-old, who previously played reserve grade for Corrimal four years ago.

"I had a good chat with (Rangers head coaches) Phil (Matias) and Manny (Mavridis), and I quite like their views and how they see football and want to play," the gloveman said.

"They've got a good plan and strategy on the boys that they want to bring in and how they want the team to play. And it's a great club, it's a prestigious club with a great culture. So I think all of the things aligned and I felt like I was ready for a change.

"I've played with a couple of boys in that team and there's a lot of exciting youth there, and they've added in a few experienced heads. So I think it's going to be an exciting year in 2024 for the Rangers."

Coad has played at several Illawarra clubs since he last departed Corrimal.

An injury to Sam Nastic opened the door for him to move to Wollongong United for the back half of the 2019 IPL first-grade season, with the side's run ending in the first week of finals (they lost to Tarrawanna in a penalty shootout).

Coad's move to fellow IPL club Wollongong Olympic in early 2020 was thwarted by COVID, but he was able to move onto Albion Park when the competition resumed. He enjoyed a golden run with the White Eagles, who fell just one game short of a grand final berth.

His next big decision came in 2021 when Coad decided to drop back to the District League and play for Unanderra. It was a change that reaped the rewards, with the Hearts claiming premiership glory a year later when they beat Helensburgh 2-0 on grand final day.

An opportunity to move to fellow District League club Shellharbour then opened ahead of the 2023 season.

It was a switch that paid big dividends for both parties, with Harbour securing the championships to put themselves in line for IPL promotion, while Coad won the league's Golden Gloves award as goalkeeper of the year.

"I was in the Premier League three or four years ago, but I got to that age where my friends were starting to play first grade, but I couldn't get consistent 22 games," he said.

"I decided to step back into District League and I met (head coach) Rod (Williams), and I stayed with Rod for three years (at Unanderra and then Shellharbour). I think the the three years stepping back really helped me to go forward to play Premier League again. I think a lot of people don't want to take that step back, but sometimes you really need it because playing week in, week out is better than playing dribs and drabs.

"I don't play for personal awards, but I was stoked to win (Golden Gloves award). We won the minor premiership and it was a great year, and the Golden Gloves was just the icing on the cake."