Seagulls come up trumps in scramble for Port’s Schulz
NORTH Shore has beaten more than 20 clubs to secure the prized signature of former Richmond and Port Adelaide spearhead Jay Schulz.
Schulz, who booted 330 goals in 193 matches for the Tigers and Power from 2003 to 2016, agreed to terms with the Seagulls on his 34th birthday yesterday.
“After meeting the guys, I loved it. I’ve got an opportunity to play and also help out with some coaching,” Schulz said. “I love coaching and I’ve got my own kicking academy, so I said I loved to help with their junior grades.
“I told them that I won’t just come as a player, I’ll help out with the juniors because it’s what I love doing and they were pumped with that as well.”
After announcing on social media his intention to come out of retirement, Schulz revealed he met North Shore coach Mark McDowell and president Dale Purcell for more than an hour at a train station near Campbellfield.
He then returned home to ponder his next move, before eventually signing on the dotted line with the Seagulls, who beat many clubs to his signature.
“I just put it out on Twitter not realising that I’d have that many clubs contact me, which was very humbling,” Schulz said.
“I had Port Douglas ring me and wanted to shift me and the family up there. There was a team in Tasmania and clubs all over Victoria. It was a bit of a shock to me.
“For everyone that contacted me, I contacted them back. I said at the start that I would happily talk to everyone who took the time to contact me and I slowly made my way through the process.
“I didn’t want to go too far — Geelong was as far as I wanted to travel with four kids.
“So that took a few clubs out, and others took themselves out because they didn’t know what my situation was with points, and eventually I narrowed it down to four.
“I really liked them all. Jason Davenport has played down there, so that was an influence for me.”
Schulz will pull on the blue and yellow for the first time against Geelong West Giants on April 27, but he is unlikely to play every game.
“It will be a matter of how my body goes,” Schulz said.
“I’m under no illusions that I’m getting older, and because of the way I played throughout my AFL career, my body has taken a battering.
“The days of me backing up week in, week out are gone. I’ll look to play as many as I can, but it might be week on, week off.
“We’ll look at the season and talk to the coaches and if there’s some really important games and I have to back up, I’ll back up.”
With a persistent back complaint bringing a premature end to his AFL career, Schulz said he was largely injury-free ahead of the next chapter, including overcoming a neck injury that caused him to quit VAFA club St Kevin’s Old Boys footy midway through last season.
“I had a sore neck for a while, so that was enough for me,” Schulz said.
“The reason I didn’t go back is they’re going for three in a row now and I didn’t want to try and do what I’ve done previously and not be able to do it. So we parted ways and they were fine with that.”
Schulz is hopeful of lining up in attack at North Shore.