CARLTON skipper Chris Judd says he’s unlikely to follow the lead of former teammate Brendan Fevola and forge a country footy career once he retires from the AFL.
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Sydney premiership player Tadhg Kennelly is the latest former AFL star to head bush, inking a deal with Ovens and Murray power Albury this week.
Speaking from a Blues clinic at Benalla yesterday, Judd praised the likes of Fevola, Barry Hall and Kennelly for giving something back to grassroots football but said he was unlikely to follow their lead.
“I don’t think so but it’s certainly an all-star cast,” the two-time Brownlow medallist said.
“It’s great for the local towns.
“People we’ve spoken to have said how excited they are about those (three) guys playing footy up here so it’s great to see.”
Judd was king of the kids at the Benalla Showgrounds as the Blues enjoy the bye before next Friday’s season-defining clash against Hawthorn at the MCG.
The Blues are ninth, equal on 24 points with four other teams, and could welcome back defender Jeremy Laidler from a knee injury but are still waiting for stars Jarrad Waite (back) and Marc Murphy (shoulder) to return.
The AFL this week fined Carlton after Waite, Murphy, and Laidler used their personal Twitter accounts to criticise league officials.
“Hopefully we get Laidler back after the break,” Judd said.
“Murph’s not too far away and Waitey as well, so when we start getting those players back into the group we’ll start playing some better footy.
“Waitey’s starting to improve.
“He’ll be back sooner rather than later which will be important for us.”
Despite losing five of their past six games, star utility Bryce Gibbs said the Blues hadn’t lost faith in their ability.
“Not at all,” Gibbs said.
“We still think we can go deep into September.
“The belief from the playing group is definitely still there.
“We’ve had a big month but we definitely need a win in the next probably two weeks. We’ve been playing some pretty competitive footy, hopefully we can keep that up.”
Carlton coach Brett Ratten said Judd was carrying an injury after another uncharacteristic performance in last week’s loss to West Coast in Perth, but he denied that, saying he was “fine”.
“I’m looking forward to the break and getting out there the week after,” he said.
“They (Hawthorn) are one of the form sides in the comp so it will be a huge challenge for us.
“Our form hasn’t been great.
“I think we’ve played a little bit better the past couple of weeks but we’ve still got a long way to go before we are playing our best again.”
