STAR Darley footballer Jake Edwards has described former Carlton teammate Chris Judd as the best footballer he has ever seen play the game in the flesh.
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Judd announced his retirement on Tuesday after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament on Saturday, ending a dazzling 279-game career.
Edwards (the 2013 winner of the Henderson Medal as the Ballarat Football League’s best and fairest) fondly remembers when he and Judd shared their debut match for the Blues.
The year was 2008 and Judd had been lauded as the saviour to lead Carlton into a new era after crossing from West Coast Eagles.
As the Brownlow Medallist prepared to play his first game in Blues colours, Edwards was getting ready for his first senior match after two years on the list.
The Blues lost to Richmond in front of 72,000 people at the MCG in the season opener, but Edwards still remembers it as a “totally surreal experience”.
“I’d been at Carlton for two years and there was so much buzz about Chris Judd coming to play for us – it was just incredible,” Edwards said.
“I’d never seen anybody move like him. I was lucky enough to see him at full fitness.”
Describing Judd as the ultimate professional, Edwards said there were only two men in his time at Carlton that shone clearly above the others.
The other was Anthony Koutoufides – but Judd still held the mantle as the best player in Edwards’ eyes.
“He’s a true professional in every sense of the word,” Edwards said.
“In terms of preparation, he was the best example I’ve ever seen. It was an honour to play with him.
“I’m sure he’d hate all the commotion around his retirement, he’s a really humble guy.”
Edwards played four of his five senior games with Judd in 2008, before being delisted at the end of the 2009 season.
He has been at Darley since 2010, except for one season when he played with Port Melbourne in the VFL.
