After helping the AFL umpiring department prepare for the upcoming season in a consultancy role, Geelong premiership player James Podsiadly has accepted a role within the AFL football operations team as the competition's stakeholder and engagement manager.
Podsiadly is expected to work closely with AFL football operations manager Steve Hocking to ensure the AFL maintains a strong relationship with clubs.
James Podsiadly.
Photo: Pat ScalaAs a qualified physiotherapist, Podsiadly played 83 games with Geelong and 21 games with Adelaide after the Cats gave him an opportunity in 2010 when aged 28. He played in the Cats' 2011 flag.
He then worked as an assistant coach at the Crows until the end of last season before deciding to move back to Victoria.
Hocking has been keen to get people with recent club experience into key roles within the football department as he seeks to develop a high performance culture within the unit.
He has already appointed David Rath, a respected member of Hawthorn's coaching staff, as coaching and innovation manager and former Gold Coast football manager Marcus Ashcroft as national talent manager.
Hocking told a media briefing in February the football operations department had a responsibility to remain ahead of the clubs in their thinking rather than being reactive.
"It's not something you can put a full stop on. The game continues to evolve and with that the footy ops team needs to evolve with it and the whole of this AFL headquarters needs to evolve with it," Hocking said.
"Our job is to stay ahead of the clubs."
Peter Ryan joined The Age in 2017 having covered AFL as a senior reporter with AFL Media.
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