Is Carlton’s Saint Judd losing his Holiness

 

Columnist

By Ben Somerford, 11 Sep 2009 Ben Somerford is a Roar Expert

Tagged:

 AFL, Carlton Blues, Chris Judd

13 Have your say

Email

Chris Judd of Carlton leaves the field after a loss in the AFL 2nd Elimination Final between the Brisbane Lions and the Carlton Blues at the Gabba. Slattery Images

Chris Judd, the model AFL player, has been in the headlines this week for all the wrong reasons after a self-confessed ‘dumb’ act, which has subsequently spiralled out of control. The saga has dragged Judd’s reputation through the mud, so one wonders will it taint him forever or can he bounce back like a true champion?

It all began on Saturday evening when Channel 10’s cameras spotted an incident where Judd appeared to be trying to eye-gouge Brisbane’s Michael Rischitelli.

The following day, Judd casually admitted he wasn’t trying to gouge Rischitelli, but instead only attempting to find the pressure point behind his ear, which naturally landed him in trouble with the match review panel before a long and drawn-out tribunal and appeal process over the next few days.

The end result was a three-week suspension for Judd plus a public tarnishing of his reputation, which fundamentally equated to a regrettable couple of days for the previously squeaky-clean 2004 Brownlow medallist.

And now you can picture it in Round 4 of the 2010 season, when Judd makes his ‘long-awaited AFL comeback’, there will be witty newspaper headlines in the lead-up to the game combined with comedic heckles and jeers from the crowd on matchday, all directed towards the Carlton skipper.

Opposition fans will be sure to find endless hilarious ways to verbalise their thoughts towards Judd everywhere he goes, especially considering the unusual circumstances of the Carlton man’s ‘pressure point’ charge. I’m sure many of us have already heard a few office jokes on the topic this week as a precursor (Mr Miyagi anyone?)

But how long will it all last? Can Judd, who was in hot water for a similar offence in 2007, shake off this new dirty-underhand-gouger/pressure-pointer/amateur-martial-arts tag or will it follow him for the rest of his career?

After all, this is the model professional who it seemed every footy journalist used as a yardstick to compare and measure other players by. Basically, prior to all this, Judd had been the AFL’s most revered player, looked up to by almost everyone.

Now it seems Judd employs dirty tactics, which aren’t in the fairness or spirit of the game.

A sure sign of Judd’s fall from grace were the comments made by AFL legend Ron Barassi this week when he described the Blues star’s actions as ‘shocking’.

Barassi added, “It’s disappointing because this guy is a hero for many, many people, including myself. He’ll regret this day a long while.”

But backtracking for just a moment, isn’t all this just a bit of an overreaction for an offence which, while obviously not being in the spirit of the game, wasn’t overly significant (despite claims from ‘martial arts experts’ Judd could have killed Rischitelli).

Indeed, the three-match ban handed down by the match review panel was ridiculously harsh and makes little sense when you consider Judd’s remorse (albeit belated) in all of this.

But what’s done is done. The question is can Judd bounce back to win over the footy public?

It’s a difficult question to answer, but you sense Judd’s regret about this incident means he’ll never do it again.

And also, what makes Judd such a revered and likeable figure is the way he goes about his footy. Obviously this whole issue challenges that concept, but if Judd gets back to producing tough match-winning performances for the Blues and kicking some glorious goals on the run, there’s no doubt all will be forgiven, although perhaps not forgotten.

But these sorts of career glitches happen to champions in all sports worldwide (remember Tiger Woods’ surprising final-round slip-up in the PGA Championship last month). The test of a true champion is how they react to these situations.

There’s no doubt Judd is at the top of the Australian Rules game, but while we shouldn’t overreact, it’s clear his recent indiscretion has harmed his reputation.

Judd simply needs to ignore all the hype and overreaction and do what he does best (playing good, clean, contested footy). If he does so, perhaps that halo will re-appear.