WEST Coast's 2006 premiership captain Chris Judd held a mentoring session with some of the Eagles' squad this week.
Judd, who lives and works in Melbourne, is in Perth for the 10-year reunion of the Eagles' 2006 premiership that will take place at the West Coast v Essendon clash at Domain Stadium on Thursday night.
The mentoring session was co-ordinated by Eagles' head of development Gavin Bell.
Judd spoke to the players who are not in the AFL team to meet the Bombers, which included promising young midfielders Liam Duggan and Dom Sheed.
The dual Brownlow medallist spoke about the meticulous preparation and recovery processes he undertook as a player during his illustrious 279-game career with West Coast and Carlton.
Eagles coach Adam Simpson said it was a good opportunity for the youngsters to hear from one of the modern-day greats.
"It (was) around the professionalism and what it's like to be an elite athlete," Simpson said.
"We've got programs in place where we educate different areas of our group. It was a good chance to take that opportunity."
Judd only played 134 games for the Eagles between 2002 and 2007, but his contribution to the club in that time was extraordinary.
He became the Eagles' first Brownlow medallist in 2004 in just his third season at AFL level, won the Eagles' best and fairest in 2004 and 2006, and was named All Australian in both seasons.
He won the Norm Smith Medal in a losing Grand Final in 2005 and was named the AFL Players' Association MVP in 2006 when he was the premiership captain.
Judd left West Coast at the end of 2007 to join Carlton in a trade that netted Josh Kennedy and No. 3 draft pick Chris Masten.
In eight seasons with the Blues, Judd won three best and fairests, a second Brownlow, a second AFLPA MVP award and was named All Australian on four occasions.
Simpson missed Judd's talk as he was preparing for the Eagles' clash with Essendon on Thursday.
Simpson was also unable to attend the AFL coaches' dinner with AFL chief executive Gill McLachlan on Tuesday night.
Simpson said on Wednesday morning that he was eager to have a chat with McLachlan about the meeting.
"I haven't heard how it went or what food was served up," Simpson said.
"It's difficult for interstate sides and coaches – we miss that opportunity.
"I think it's important we do get to follow up. I'm not too sure how many interstate coaches went. I'm assuming none. It'd be great to catch up and find out what the discussion was."
Simpson was not concerned about the timing of the meeting as he felt he had ample opportunity to speak with both McLachlan and AFL football operations manager Mark Evans before and after the season.
