By Lewis Mulvey
A special weekend beckons for ‘milestone men’ Andy Biddlecombe and James Podsiadly as they clock up further accolades with their respective clubs. Sandringham’s versatile defender Biddlecombe plays his 100th VFL game, while Geelong’s star forward Podsiadly plays his 175th match, thus achieving VFL life membership. On the eve of the milestones, their coaches heaped praise on the two state representatives.
Describing Andy Biddlecombe, Sandringham coach Andy Lovell spoke of his quality as a defender, both in the air and at ground level. “He’s super competitive,” said Lovell. “And he’s rarely beaten one on one. He’s the consummate defender. The other term you’d throw in there is ‘no fuss’, he keeps it very simple and has a great ability to beat his man one-on-one.”
These talents have seen Biddlecombe prove an enormous success at Sandringham, winning three premierships and achieving state representation. Yet despite these successes, his reputation at the club remains that of a modest and humble player.
“He is quiet,” Lovell said when describing Biddlecombe’s personality. “But in team meetings, when he talks, everyone listens.”
The other big milestone of the weekend is that of reigning J.J. Liston Trophy-holder James Podsiadly, who achieves VFL life membership with 175 games. ‘Pods’ only arrived at Geelong this year, but as captain he has already had an enormous impact both on and off the ground.
“He’s been brilliant so far this season,” said Geelong coach Dale Amos of the key forward. “And for us, with a young group, he has brought an understanding of how to prepare and get yourself ready to play consistent VFL footy. His knowledge of what to do on a weekly basis has been great for the young guys.”
Podsiadly has continued his goal scoring form this season, with 33 goals in eight matches.
“He’s played mainly in the full forward position, but we’ve used him a bit higher up the ground aswell,” said Amos. “He’s consistently kicking goals, providing a hard leading option, and he would certainly be around the top in our best and fairest.”
Both Biddlecombe and Podsiadly will face tough tasks in their milestone matches, as they look to push their respective clubs back into finals contention. With Biddlecombe out there to stifle the Box Hill forward line Sunday, and ‘Pods’ looking for another bag of goals at Williamstown on Saturday, their fans will feel those finals hopes are in safe hands.
Last Modified on 18/06/2009 13:10