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Opinion Podsiadly

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hbk_aus

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What do we do with him? He had a down year I thought, especially against the top sides. Are we stifling the development of Walker, Brown, Kersten, Vardy and to an extent even Hawkins if Pods keeps going?

Has been a brilliant pick up in the couple of years he has been here - but for the sake of the rebuild, do we have to move on from him?
 
Maybe, but there is no guarantee they are going to end up being better then him is there?
Keep playing him as long as he is fit and the others start showing something.
 
The club should see what he wants to do, realistically he will be in and out of the seniors next year.

He hasn't played a whole lot of AFL and he could play another 3 years somewhere else as the no1 KPF.

Would be sad to see him go but for him and us it would be best.
 
vinum coupe said:
Maybe, but there is no guarantee they are going to end up being better then him is there?
Keep playing him as long as he is fit and the others start showing something.
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But has he done enough this year at the age of 31/32 to be keeping these young guys out of the side in what could be a crucial development phase for them?
 

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hbk_aus said:
He had a down year I thought, especially against the top sides.
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He averaged 5½ marks, 2½ goals against the top 8 sides throughout the home & away season and had an interrupted preseason campaign having had shoulder surgery.

He also played a slightly different role this season by sacrificing his game for the sake of the development of Hawkins.
I am unsure how many other centre half forwards go about averaging those kind of stats against top teams but he deserves another year as he was not poor but was satisfactory.
31 years of age yep, but he is a young 31 year old having started late and he still has a heap to offer as well as providing much needed to protection for our young forwards in Smedts, Motlop etc.

Perhaps more bench time in 2013 while we allow Brown/Kersten to develop but you don't get rid of good footballers all because of one poor game in which 14 (maybe 15) other blokes played in.
 
Kersten, Brown and Walker produced two goals between them in the VFL last week. It's a question that's worth asking, but until someone starts bashing down the door for senior selection it's pretty moot.
 
thejester said:
Kersten, Brown and Walker produced two goals between them in the VFL last week. It's a question that's worth asking, but until someone starts bashing down the door for senior selection it's pretty moot.
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That was one poor game - overall they have had good VFL seasons and will need opportunities to develop at AFL level in the next year or 2. Brown for example - how do we develop him if he is played for a game as the third tall forward and then dropped again? Walker had the same problem when Pods came back from injury - he was squeezed out and hardly used as an option.
 
as someone else said, his role more and more throughout the year was to help isolate hawkins, which he did very well.

i think it all comes down to how many picks we want in the draft and rookies we want to elevate.

but, should pods and other older players keep playing, i really hope the talent coming through can start to keep them out of the side in the second half of next year
 
pinion said:
as someone else said, his role more and more throughout the year was to help isolate hawkins, which he did very well. i think it all comes down to how many picks we want in the draft and rookies we want to elevate. but, should pods and other older players keep playing, i really hope the talent coming through can start to keep them out of the side in the second half of next year
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Agree 100%. We must keep him to mentor the young'uns and support Hawk as he has this year. Crucial for me.
 
I'd keep him on for another year at least. At the very least, he could help teach our young up and coming key forwards about positioning and the likes by playing alongside them in the VFL.
 
winty said:
I'd keep him on for another year at least. At the very least, he could help teach our young up and coming key forwards about positioning and the likes by playing alongside them in the VFL.
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What does it cost us to keep him ?
Whose development is he stalling?
Are we looking to making finals again, or are we really rebuilding?
Does he want to continue?
Is he performing?
 

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I think its time. The experiment worked well but I'm in the group that thinks that it's time to get games into the younger kids. I can't see us challenging for the flag in 2013, he will in all likelihood be gone at the end of next year regardless, so what's the point in retaining him on the list? I want to see a more mobile forward set up - with Menzel coming back next year he takes Pods' spot. You also have Walker and Kersten to get games into.
 
hbk_aus said:
That was one poor game - overall they have had good VFL seasons and will need opportunities to develop at AFL level in the next year or 2. Brown for example - how do we develop him if he is played for a game as the third tall forward and then dropped again? Walker had the same problem when Pods came back from injury - he was squeezed out and hardly used as an option.
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I think there's two separate problems there. I'm still confident Brown will be a player for us, but he clearly looks better the further away he gets from goal - and a comparison with Pods really highlights that. Unlike everyone other key forward we've got he doesn't look like ever taking a contested mark, which is now such a big part of our gameplan. I think his future is in the backline, and Scarlo's retirement in particular opens up a spot given he's such a good user of the ball. So I don't think retaining Pods hurts Browns developments.

As to the other guys - maybe, but not convinced. I'm a big fan of Kersten's and I think he'll play a lot next year - but I suspect it'll be as a third forward ala Menzel rather than a key position guy. Vardy will play as second ruck. That leaves Walker, who still looks a long way off having a consistent impact at senior level. Put it this way - let's say we get rid of Pods, and we draft Bourke. Hawkins' foot flares up over preseason, and he's out for the first six weeks. That leaves Brown, Walker, Vardy, Bourke and Kersten as your key forward pool. I think we shouldn't try and add mature depth through free agency, but equally shedding it will leave us vulnerable. Keep Pods this year.
 
I think it's good that he's keeping a youngster or two out of the side. It means they have to really earn their spot in the side and they and the team will be better off in the long run for it.
 
hbk_aus said:
What do we do with him? He had a down year I thought, especially against the top sides. Are we stifling the development of Walker, Brown, Kersten, Vardy and to an extent even Hawkins if Pods keeps going?

Has been a brilliant pick up in the couple of years he has been here - but for the sake of the rebuild, do we have to move on from him?
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I don't think Pods has been "down" as such, perhaps a little quieter but with the improvement of Hawkins he was always going to demand more of the ball. Quite rightly.

Pods kicked 35 goals in 18 games this year. By comparison as a second key forward, here's some numbers from past years:

2007 - Nathan Ablett kicked 34 goals from 21 games
2008 - Tom Lonergan kicked 36 goals from 16 games
2009 - Tom Hawkins kicked 34 goals from 24 games

Most of us would regard those returns as more than acceptable. Hard to fault Pods' output by comparison. In reality we want Brown or Vardy to boot him out of the side by going past him, but he's still clearly the best option behind Hawkins.
 
There is no doubt that Vardy is going to take precedence next year - you just had to witness him attack a couple of contests last night to understand that a lot of effort is going to be put into him.

Mitch Brown is another who will come along and don't underestimate the likes of Kersten as another forward target. However, there is certainly a lot of value in keeping Pods within the team for at least next year. Just gives us flexibility and in a year that I feel we will seriously challenge for the flag we will want him as an option.

A forward line containing any of Hawkins, Vardy, Pods, Chapman, Menzel and SJ is going to be as potent as any going around.
 

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I'd say he can easily play on another year.

Key part of our forward line still and apart from injuries, still a great player with strong marks and great goal kicking skills.
 
Kersten kicks 6 in the VFL semi today. This kid reminds me of a young Pavlich. Already has a mature body. Another pre-season of improving his aerobic base and adding a bit more muscle definition, he should be ready to play anywhere between 10-15 games at least. With Menzel back as well we need to find room..just sayin...;)
 
The 747 said:
Another year, will have to earn his pace on merit though. If the young ones demand a spot, then so be it.

Except Brown unless he goes mad in the gym, he cannot play as a key forward with that frame.
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We lost a game where we wernt switched on and people start making cut this guy, do this, do that. Whos going to take Pods spot? Who crashes packs like him? Pods played a vital role this year and was very good. He had a off night but he wasnt the only one.
 

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