Fremantle Football Club's Peter Bell calls on Dockers to pursue Geelong forward James Podsiadly

FREMANTLE great Peter Bell has called on the Dockers to recruit discarded Geelong forward James Podsiadly to keep their premiership hopes burning next year.

Peter Bell

FREMANTLE great Peter Bell has called on the Dockers to recruit discarded Geelong forward James Podsiadly to keep their premiership hopes burning next year.

The former on-ball ace has urged urgent remedial work on the Dockers' kicking skills on the back of last weekend's gut-wrenching Grand Final loss to Hawthorn.

Gun on-ballers Nat Fyfe and Michael Barlow, as well as crack recruit Danyle Pearce can all improve their kicking execution talents, Bell says.

"A weakness of Fremantle all year is that they need to improve by foot," he says.

"It's hard to be critical of them, because let's face it they made the grand final when not many people expected them to do that and they have really improved. But they butchered the ball all year by foot.

"There's a lot of improvement in players like Barlow, Fyfe and Danyle Pearce, who didn't kick the ball as well as I expected him to do when he came over from Port Adelaide."

Bell wants Fremantle management to shelve a recruitment model of only taking players under the age of 28, in his call for Podsiadly, 32, to be a recruiting target.

The triple Fremantle fairest-and-best winner wants veteran Podsiadly at the Dockers for at least a year and maybe even only as a mature rookie on a basic wage while flag prospects remain intact ahead of impending retirements of forward Matthew Pavlich, ruckman Aaron Sandilands and defender Luke McPharlin.

"If Fremantle think they can press for a grand final again next year and the year after, then he is in the frame," Bell says.

"You're not looking for a premiership in five years' time. You're looking at one next year and maybe the year after.

"I'd like to see Fremantle explore the options of a big power forward.

"If Fremantle think they are close to a premiership and if they can improve, I think Podsiadly is someone they might look at."

Bell expects Podsiadly, even at his age, to offer Fremantle vital forward-line support to Pavlich as a second key marking and scoring target.

He would also provide critical mentoring to fast-track development of young Dockers emerging big men Jack Hannath and Matt Taberner, as well as the now more-established emerging ruck talent Zac Clarke.

Whenever Podsiadly was not playing at Dockers senior level, the Cats premiership big man would be a valuable development coach in stints at alignment club Peel Thunder in the WAFL, says Bell.

"James hasn't played a whole lot of footy and you'd have to do a lot of due diligence as to his condition," Bell says.

"But he is a sports scientist and I dare say he would be in pretty good condition.

"He might be one that they look at, or they go down the path of bringing in Scott Gumbleton, or go back to the draft to try to pick a key position forward there.

"There is no doubt that Fremantle needs some reinforcements in the longer term with regards to some key forwards.

"When Luke McPharlin retires they are going to need some reinforcements in the defensive areas as well."

Bell says Fremantle's recruitment of free agent Colin Sylvia from Melbourne will be an instant success.

He expects the 157-game veteran to play mainly as a forward, with occasional spells on the ball, adding crucial depth to Fremantle's already powerful midfield.