Caulfield Grammar’s best football team of the past 50 years

Brendon Goddard was underwhelmed by Chris Judd in their first half of footy together at Caulfield Grammar – but what happened next will go down in legend.

Chris Judd had a stunning AFL career. Picture: Michael Klein

Between them they have played more than 3,300 VFL/AFL games, played in six premierships, earnt All-Australian honours on 10 occasions and won two Brownlow medals.

Caulfield Grammar’s best team of the past 50 years is certainly star-studded.

There are also four club captains who are part of the side, including Chris Judd who skippered both West Coast and Carlton.

Considered one of the best midfielders in recent history, Judd also won a premiership with the Eagles in 2006 and is part of a rare club of two-time Brownlow Medal winners.

Watch the 2021 Toyota AFL Premiership Season. Every match of every round Live on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-Days Free Now >

He won the game’s highest individual award in both 2004 and 2010.

A big game player, Judd’s resume also include a Norm Smith Medal in a losing Grand Final side in 2005, six All-Australian honours and five clubs best and fairests.

Judd played 279 AFL games between 2002 and 2015, kicking 228 goals.

Former Carlton captain Chris Judd was a Caulfield Grammar product. Picture: Michael Klein

Former St Kilda and Essendon star Brendon Goddard is another Caulfield Grammar graduate with a lengthy resume.

Goddard played 334 AFL games, served as captain of Essendon in 2016, was the Bombers’ best-and-fairest in 2013 and was a two-time All-Australian in 2009 and 2010.

After being raised in the Gippsland town of Traralgon, Goddard boarded at Caufield Grammar for his final three years of secondary school and not only co-captained the school’s First XVIII football team but also co-captained the First XI cricket team.

Former Carlton high-flyer Andrew Walker — who was narrowly beaten for the AFL’s Mark of the Year in 2011 by Collingwood’s Andrew Krakouer — was a 2004 graduate of the school.

Former Carlton star Andrew Walker took one of the greatest marks of all time. Picture: Michael Klein

Dylan Shiel when he made the Australian Under-15 team.

Having started his career at Richmond, Stuart Maxfield made his name at Sydney and captained the Swans from 2003 to 2005.

Maxfield finished his career on 289 AFL games, kicking 152 goals.

Other stars to have come through Caulfield Grammar include three-time Richmond premiership player David Astbury, current North Melbourne captain Jack Ziebell and Essendon midfielder Dylan Shiel.

THE DAY JUDDY KICKED 10 IN A HALF

BRENDON Goddard had heard the hype about a young Chris Judd not long after arriving at Caulfield Grammar as a Year 10 student.

Judd was in Year 12 and was being touted as a future AFL star, but Goddard wasn’t buying it – at least initially.

Involved in various talent pathways, Judd had completed limited training with Goddard and his school mates over pre-season at Caulfield Grammar that year and had shown glimpses of his talent.

But in Goddard’s first game for the school’s First XVIII football team, he quickly found out that Judd was something special.

“My first game was against Haileybury out at Wheeler’s Hill,” Goddard said.

“Juddy was the man of the moment and I’d heard all about him.

“He started in the middle and we were going well, we were a strong team. But he was pretty quiet. I was thinking, ‘All this hype about this guy, I’m not sure if it’s accurate or not’. He was playing in the midfield and I think he kicked a couple of goals but and got a little bit of it but not a lot of it.

“After halftime they put him to full forward and he kicked 10 goals in the second half. By the end of it, he had three blokes hanging off him and I was the recipient because I was running around at halfback or through the midfield by myself because they were all trying to triple-team Juddy up.”

Judd would go on to be the No. 3 draft pick in the 2001 ‘Super Draft’ at the end of that year and would go on to win a premiership with West Coast in 2006 and a pair of Brownlow Medals in 2004 and 2010.

Chris Judd running out for the First XVIII football team at Caulfield Grammar School. Picture: JESSE MARLOW/From Inside: The Autobiography by Chris Judd.

Goddard himself further developed in his football was snapped up by the St Kilda with pick No. 1 in the 2002 national draft despite still having a year of school remaining.

Like Judd, he was a school captain for his Year 12 season, despite not being available to play because of his duties the Saints – until there came a lucky break.

Goddard made his AFL debut in Round 4 and did not miss another game at the top level that year, but desperately wanted to play one last game for his school football and found an opportunity to do so, as well as an understanding coach.

“In the bye weekend of the AFL season I asked Grant Thomas if I could go back to Caulfield and play my last ever game for Caulfield and he said, ‘No worries, just don’t get injured’,” Goddard said.

“We played Geelong Grammar down in Geelong so it wasn’t that memorable. We flogged them, but it’s something that I wanted to do at the time and I’m glad I did because I loved it.”

Brendon Goddard with his Caulfield Grammar teammates during his draft year. Picture: Michael Dodge

Goddard completed school later that year in unusual circumstances.

He did his English exam not at Caulfield Grammar but in the middle of the night in the dining room of a London hotel while on a three-week training camp with the Saints.

“I was sitting there doing the exam and the boys were all walking past on their way home after they had been for a night out,” Goddard said.

“They were standing out the front of the dining room and banging on the windows giving me grief while I was trying to do my English exam. So it was a pretty unique situation.”

Originally published as Caulfield Grammar’s best football team of the past 50 years