Father Judd speaks
THE CASUAL reader of the Sunday Herald Sun might think that ex-Hawk Shane Crawford is the tabloid's new gun reporter. The paper has managed to wrangle three pieces from his chat with Carlton captain Chris Judd.

There's the lengthy Q&A, a break-out story about how the Blues' leadership group is playing a more significant role in team selection this season, and - stop the presses - an article about how a young couple which has just had a child might have another.

Judd 'revealed' that the birth of son Oscar had made a significant impact on his life. He was even changing nappies and bathing the little one.

Then he 'revealed' that he and wife Rebecca planned another child.

"We did before this one, but I am assured that is fairly natural," Judd told Crawford.

"We have got our hands full at the moment, but I am sure that within 12 or 18 months' time, when the dust has settled a little bit, we will look to increase the brood."

Rather more significantly Judd said the Blues' leadership group had become more involved in team selection this season.

"That's not just me, that's the other leaders as well," he said.

"It's very easy to pick who should play, but it is always hard to pick who goes out.

"I think one thing it does give you is a bit more of an appreciation of what it is like to be a coach.

"It is easy to sit around and take pot shots at other people in jobs, but when you sit down in their shoes and try and work through picking a side, you realise why match committee goes for five and a half hours."

Judd also touched on the peculiar pressure of being considered across the line for a third Brownlow Medal.

An unbackable favourite for this year's medal after his wins in 2004 and last season, Judd said, "It's funny when you are one of the favourites for the Brownlow, you almost spend the second half of the year justifying to people that you are not playing footy to win a Brownlow," he said.

"People say that you are taking the p--- a bit when you say it is something that you haven't thought of. But I really haven't. I never thought I would win one Brownlow.

"I never thought I would win two; and I don't sit here thinking I am going to win three."

Watson to Lloyd
Meanwhile over at The Sunday Age former Essendon captain Matthew Lloyd has had a tete-a-tete with his successor Jobe Watson in which the Bombers captain was full of praise for coach James Hird and what he had brought to Windy Hill.

Most significant, given the dismal report card given to former coach Matthew Knights by most Bombers - and not least by Lloyd in his recent autobiography Straight Shooter - was Watson's view on how much the club had changed this year.

Considering the influence of Hird and senior assistant Mark Thompson, Watson said, "I think it's a completely different place in terms of what the expectations are around the football club.

"I think that they've set the bar extraordinarily high and it's no secret that they want to turn the club into the best club in Australian sport. And I think they will not stop until that is going to happen."

Watson told Lloyd that Hird had proven to be an "incredibly compassionate person as a coach, tough when [he] has to be, but also really reasonable with the players. I think that his players really respond because they know that he has a genuine care about them, but he's also going to drive them to get the best out of them".

Watson also had a gentle whack at his first coach Kevin Sheedy, admitting their relationship was strained at the end. "I think just the way that I was playing and style that I played probably didn't suit the way that he thought that the team was going and I suppose that was the strain — I guess that I wasn't fitting into the way that he saw the team and I suppose that was what led me to being dropped out of the side."

And as for the Bombers' prospects, the skipper said the next two to three seasons might see them become genuine challengers. "But I think what will happen is the playing group will decide how quickly or even if they do want to get to the heights they do. Eventually you get all the sports science and medical and the coaches can only do so much. Eventually it's a group of players there who decide whether they want to do it or they don't and we'll be faced with that decision.

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs