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Judd is best Eagle ever

Long before Nat Fyfe terrorised midfields with size, power and aerial supremacy, Chris Judd was doing it with size, pace and scoring power.

The knee injury sustained on Saturday that looks likely to end Judd’s career will spark two debates. Did he play his best football at West Coast or Carlton? And who won the famous trade that sent him to the Blues and Josh Kennedy to West Coast?

While Judd won one of his two Brownlows, four of his six All-Australians and three of his five club best and fairests at the Blues, the numbers say he was a better player at the Eagles.

Who won the trade that saw the Blues get Judd and draft Dennis Armfield, and the Eagles land Kennedy and draft Chris Masten and Tony Notte?

Kennedy, Masten and Armfield are not finished yet, but both clubs did all right.

Down and out. Is this the end of Chris Judd?

Carlton got the leader and gun player they needed to rebuild a club in ruins after salary cap penalties. They had to have Judd even at a high cost, a little like Fremantle needed Peter Bell in 2001. West Coast didn’t want to lose Judd under any circumstances, but will probably finish up winning on the deal. Kennedy is already one of the game’s best power forwards and will be at the height of his powers for two to three more years, while Masten is in career-best form this year.

Judd, 189cm and 88kg, was a contested ball and clearance-winning monster at Carlton, but he was a swift, goal-kicking midfield monster at West Coast. While coaches and critics eulogise various statistics in the modern game, the scoreboard tells you who wins and loses.

Legend Leigh Matthews has a habit of telling you how it is without over-complicating the game and he watched Judd decimate his Brisbane side a few times.

In 2003 at the Gabba, he kicked five goals in a half and finished with 17 possessions in an Eagles win. The following year, when Judd was “held” to 30 touches and a single goal, along with 16 contested possessions at Subiaco Oval, Matthews said that as an opposition coach trying to contain Judd he would take 30 and a goal over 17 and five goals any day. He spoke too soon. In 2006 against Brisbane, Judd ran up 39 possessions, four goals and 28 contested possessions to go with 10 clearances in what must rate as one of the finest performances in football of the past 20 years.

Eagle onslaught: Chris Judd made a quick impression at West Coast.

In six seasons at West Coast Judd fell short of 20 goals in a season just once — in 2005 when he finished with 15.24.

He twice kicked 29 goals, managed 21 in his first season and 20 in 2007 despite battling groin issues.

In seven completed seasons at Carlton he never kicked more than 15.

I once watched Judd doing midfield clearance drills with teammates at City Beach. It was four-versus-four with one group trying to clear the ball out and one group trying to hold it in.

Players changed sides and mixed up the teams as they went. The calibre of player in the drill included Judd, Ben Cousins, Daniel Kerr, Andrew Embley and Michael Braun. After about 20 minutes a clear pattern emerged — the team that Judd was on won the drill, regardless of the mix.

I mentioned this to then Eagles football manager Steve Woodhouse later and he looked at me as if I was stating the obvious: “Well he IS the best player we have ever had by a fair margin,” he replied.

Woodhouse’s unequivocal words are apt last words when we remember the career of the great Chris Judd.