Hodge: The three star veterans Tasmania should target

Luke Hodge has identified three AFL veterans he believes Tasmania should target ahead of their inaugural season.

Launching into life under Ken Hinkley, the Devils have already commenced conversations around the competition with players and coaches alike as they aspire to build a competitive list for 2028 and beyond.

With both Gold Coast and GWS to model their build on, Hinkley and the Devils’ list managers will look to construct the right mix of young talent and veteran leaders to lead Tasmania, with a focus on breaking into September within their first five years.

Hodge believes that while talent is crucial, the veterans play the most vital role, identifying three modern-day greats that the Devils should court ahead of ’28.

“I think the best way out of the two is the way that the Giants followed with their pathway,” Hodge told SEN Whateley.

“That was go and get some former players in James McDonald, in Luke Power, in Dean Brogan – these kinds of guys to be able to teach the younger guys coming through.

“I think that’s the biggest think that Kenny would have taken from his experience at Gold Coast. Gary Ablett jnr was unbelievable for them, but he was a 26, 27-year-old at the prime of his powers, still trying to prove why he was being paid $2 million to go up there.

“What they need in Tasmania is not so much to make a bang straight away. It’s, make finals in years four, five and six.

“The best way to do that is by getting players that are probably past their best. Players that are happy to sit back, teach, guide, and get players to understand the game earlier than what they need to.

“Understand that it’s all about teamwork, it’s all about selfless acts. It’s all about, ‘if you ran here, you’d help your teammate in this position while still finding the ball yourself’.

“I’ve marked a couple. The key pillars in defence that they’ll probably look at would be an Alex Pearce – that’s one that’s been touted.

“The other one I’d go and ask is Harris Andrews. For a person, not only what he can do on a football field, making people better around him, his leadership – I saw that firsthand.

“What he has been able to do as a person, the stuff he does off the football field as far as domestic violence that he has been an ambassador for, he is an ambassador for a kids’ cancer charity in Melbourne.

“These kinds of things will teach players that it’s more about off-field than on-field. It’s more about moulding yourself when you’re a 30-year-old than how many kicks you get when you’re a 21-year-old.

“The other one – this is probably more a business decision, and I don’t want Collingwood supporters to come calling up and get angry – I’d go and ask Scott Pendlebury.

“Have one more year at Collingwood and then come down. This is a little bit of a business one.

“He has done everything he possibly can at Collingwood, but there’s still that thing – you play a long time in football for your own record, but it’s also setting yourself up for your family.

“Making sure your kids have that luxury, helping them out with a house deposit down the pathway or getting into certain schools.

“For me, I’d go and talk to Scott Pendlebury and say, if we give you a $1.5 million sign-on fee, if we give you $1.2 to $1.5 for two years – that might mean you play 15 games – but the biggest thing out of that is that he doesn’t need to touch the ball.

“The stuff that I saw leading into his record game – he gets up in the morning and does his ice bath.

“He does all the little, small things, getting movement through his big toe because that helps his ankle free up. I wish I’d have learnt that when I was 18.

“These are the small little things that if I was Tassie, I’d say, it’s a business decision, come down for two years.

“For him, it’s an adventure. I’d be calling up and saying, come and help me teach these kids.”

Listen to the full discussion below: