It is one of the most famous and unique trades in football history.
Famous because it involved two players, Chris Judd and Josh Kennedy, finishing their careers with stacked resumes, the latter surely to join the former in the Australian Football Hall of Fame.
And unique because both Carlton and West Coast could claim they were “winning” the trade.
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Debate over the famous 2007 deal between the Blues and Eagles has inevitably arisen this week after Kennedy announced West Coast’s upcoming game against Adelaide would be their 293rd and final AFL game.
The soon-to-be 35-year-old will leave as the Eagles’ leading scorer as well as a number of accolades, including a double Coleman medalist, seven-time Eagles leading kicker and three-time All-Australian. He was also a key member of West Coast’s thrilling 2018 premiership triumph over Collingwood.
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Kennedy’s achievements came almost exclusively to the Eagles after Carton’s No.4 selection in the 2005 draft was instrumental in one of Footy’s most famous trades.
In late 2007, Judd, the 2005 West Coast Premier League captain and arguably the AFL’s best player at the time, wanted to return to Victoria, with the Blues keen to secure their services.
After 11 goals in 22 games for Carlton, Kennedy returned to Western Australia, although he was happy at the time and settled in Melbourne.
As part of the deal, Carlton acquired Judd and Pick 46, which he used to select Dennis Armfield, who played 145 games for the Blues). The Eagles got Kennedy, as well as Picks 3 (Chris Masten, a top Eagle who played 215 games on the West Coast) and 20 (Tony Notte, who played two games in three seasons).
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The struggling Blues didn’t just need a star player, they were looking for a leader and a standard-bearer, which is why they named him captain in the first year. In his first four seasons with the Blues, Judd made the Australian team each year, won the Blues’ best and fairest in the first three, won the 2010 Brownlow Medal and won the MVP award AFL Players Association.
Judd was four years older than Kennedy when the 2007 trade went down. He was also already a Brownlow Medalist, Norm Smith Medalist and Premiership Captain.
But as Judd reached the end of his career, Kennedy reached his prime. He scored 59 goals as a 23-year-old before a golden career where he made 60, 61, 80 (Coleman Medal), 82 (Coleman Medal) and 69 majors over five seasons. Most importantly, the following year he shot 3.2 for 18 disposals and 11 points in a winning Grand Final.
Former Carlton coach Brett Ratten with Chris Judd on the day he officially turned blue. Image: Simon MossmanSource: AAP
Injury forced Judd to retire at the age of 31 after a couple of seasons where it was clear he was part of his incredible prime. Kennedy will retire after a powerful and warrior-like finish to his career that saw him score 43, 49, 34, 41 and 29 goals over the past five seasons. Considering the Eagles’ plight, poor delivery inside 50 and his own injury, the fact that Kennedy has kicked 29 goals this year is remarkable.
Ultimately, the Blues got seven seasons from Judd and the Eagles 15 from Kennedy.
So, all things considered, who won the 2007 Judd-Kennedy trade?
Fremantle legend Matthew Pavlich perhaps put it more diplomatically.
“Probably on the West Coast in the long run, but it’s one of those where you could probably argue the case either way about who had the better outcome,” Pavlich said. foxfooty.com.au.
“Judd was captain and all-Australian and led the Blues to finals victory in 2013. So maybe the short-term winner was Carlton, but the long-term winner has definitely been West Coast in terms of Josh Kennedy as an incredible forward for a long, long time, an All-Australian, a Coleman medalist and finally a top-flight player in 2018. He’s been a star for a long time.
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“So Carlton in the short term, West Coast in the long term, it’s not usually a switch like this where both teams could argue they got a better result.”
Ultimately, the business of footy is winning, which is what two Fox Footy pundits swayed to the Eagles.
“Without judging the individual players, but judging by the timing of the swap, I would feel West Coast won the swap,” triple premiership Lion Alastair Lynch said. foxfooty.com.au. “That’s not to diminish or belittle Judd’s contribution because he’s one of the game’s all-time greats, but after the exchange, West Coast got a flag and I guess Carlton didn’t, so I’d just have them in front. “
Brad Johnson, the Bulldogs’ games record holder, said foxfooty.com.au: “Well, West Coast won a flag, so I think with what West Coast got out of Kennedy it was absolutely right for what they needed as a team.”
Three-time premiership forward Cameron Mooney also leaned towards the West Coast, but not by much.
Josh Kennedy with the 2018 Premiership Cup. Image: Michael KleinSource: News Corp Australia
“I think it worked out pretty well for both of them. But if I had to choose, being a striker and knowing how difficult it is to score 700 goals and win first place, which is the main game of the game, you probably have to think about the West Coast,” Mooney said. foxfooty.com.au. “But I would have been very, very happy if Chris Judd walked through my doors.
“The thing about Carlton at the time was that the club wasn’t a good club, and he’s probably the perfect example that one person can’t change a football club. He’s among the best players of this century and, for big as he is, he couldn’t change a club that, probably until recently, had been seen as a poor club.”
AFL 360 co-host Mark Robinson declared it a win for the Eagles and Blues.
“They both won. Judd was a champion and Kennedy played 15 years,” Robinson told Fox Footy’s AFL 360.
“His second headline in football was ‘Carlton gives away Josh Kennedy’, and his last headline will be ‘Josh Kennedy retires a champion of the game’. It’s a great story.”
AFL 360 Co-presenter Gerard Whateley added: “Clearly Carlton didn’t know what they were trading, because nobody trades THAT player. He’d been there for two years and the forecast wasn’t that he’d become one of the top 25 hurlers of all time. He might have been reluctant to beginning, but he found his home and the West Coast and earned his reputation on the West Coast.”