Past Player - James Podsiadly

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I think people are seriously over reacting to this. JPod has credentials and previous experience in the AFL system in fitness and coaching. He also happens to be a solid player that could provide depth for a season. I have no issues with that at all. Do people forget just how s**t our forward line was this year. FFS Lynch was our leading goal kicker with 33 goals and 10 of those came in a single game against GWS where he was beating up on kids and got 3 cheapies in the goals square from handballs.

Now I like LJ but please do not call him a KPF. He has genuine goal kicking talent BUT he has serious flaws in his game that could see him being a great SANFL player only. He is not big enough for a KPF at the AFL level and he does not have much of a leap or pace. He does have genuine smarts on where to be and a nose for goal.

His position at the AFL level is as a 3rd tall and he has to significantly change his game and approach to it to beat Lynch out which might explain why he was played in defence at North Adelaide.

JPod as a stop gap solution for a year to ease Walker back in is fine by me and he would be a great mentor to the likes of LJ, JJ and Lynch to boot. Now his body might well fail him but it's not like he will be taking a spot from a kid who will make it. We will draft someone who we will end up delisting anyway. At least this way there is some logic behind it.

And as for coaching, its not like our fitness coach is a world beater and irreplaceable. First year at the helm and we laid an egg and stinky one at that!
 

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As I see it, this is a gamble that costs us nothing.

We've just invested (heavily?) in the first quality crumber that we've had in a long time. Not much use in a forward line without crumbs. So we bring in a big body who knows where to move in a forward line and can bring the ball to ground.
Any of you oldies remember Peter Bennett, the North Adelaide CHF in the 80's. Didnt take a lot of marks but was rarely beaten - always brought the ball to ground. Pods doesnt need to be a Walker/Tippett, clunking marks left and right. If he can bring the ball to ground and no get beaten while we're waiting to get our main forward back up to match fitness then it's a win. Remember - he's free!
 
Jpod is a case where I think FA works well, get him for nothing, fills a need for us short term, could potentially be the difference between making the 8 or not.

its only costs us a spot on the list, if it doesn't work out it wont be a major drama.

if tex comes back firing, a forward line of tex, jpod and betts could be pretty dangerous at the end of the season.

get aboard the jpod train people!
 
Pods, age 32, comes in, fills a need (backup tall-forward).
Callinan, age 31, delisted, no longer fills a need (Eddie fulfilled this need; others can be backups)

Pods <---> Callinan
 
James_37 said:
Yeah, would take a lot of pressure off Tex to rush back.
Click to expand...

Exactly. Tex is easily one of our most important players when he's fit and firing. We need to nurse him back to his elite best and having Pods plays takes a lot of the pressure to rush Tex back into the side and potentially have him injured. From all accounts Pods is also a great leader so he will help our younger forwards like JJ and LJ develop.
 
Very good fit for you, nice cover until Walker is fit and an upgrade on McKernan. A fortunate set of circumstances for club and player.
 
I wasn't wrong when I said we'd nab a former Cat, if he accepts our offer that is! :p

Here's something I put together, you guys might like to look over it to help you decide whether his arrival would be of benefit to us. There are some interesting stats I noticed that came as a surprise to me, and I've covered in detail his last two thirds of the 2013 season - so as to highlight and perhaps alleviate any arguments over his apparent decline that many here are concerned about.

See the attached pdf ;)
 

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SA_Stazza said:
I wasn't wrong when I said we'd nab a former Cat, if he accepts our offer that is! :p

Here's something I put together, you guys might like to look over it to help you decide whether his arrival would be of benefit to us. There are some interesting stats I noticed that came as a surprise to me, and I've covered in detail his last two thirds of the 2013 season - so as to highlight and perhaps alleviate any arguments over his apparent decline that many here are concerned about.

See the attached pdf ;)
Click to expand...
Nice work:thumbsu:
 

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Drugs Are Bad Mackay? said:
Were Geelong not aware of all jPod's positives?

Takes the pressure off Hawkins with his back injury, mentoring for younger guys like Vardy, seamless transition into a coaching/development role...

What do we know that they don't?
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Pods finished 11th in our B&F so his form last year wasn't too bad and being a fitness fanatic (by profession too) you are getting someone with no injury concerns.

My take on our decision to move some older players on is that the club feels it is a time for renewal and by keeping some of the older players around the temptation would be to play them rather than test the up-n-comers of which we have quite a few.

Pods has been great for us and you are getting a top bloke too who will not only add on-field value, but off-field value too. He has been great for us.

Hope he has a successful year with only a couple of shockers ie against us.:)
 
I liken it to the Torney situation.
He was retired early because of team composition, not because he was not playing good football.
AFC decided to stagger the loss of fab 4 (and players like Torney as well) so we did not lose everyone in one season.
Geelong now in same boat.
I think this is a terrific play by Crows - just not sure if he will want to move to Adelaide.
I never did agree with the Torney sacking (and still do not) but understand why it was done.
 
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