Carlton star Chris Judd was awarded some extra time off over the AFL off-season and the extended break has the veteran looking in his best shape in years.
While it’s usually wife Rebecca’s fashion tips and social media presence which steal the summer headlines, the scent of the rapidly approaching AFL season is gradually turning the spotlight back on the six-time All-Australian and his revamped Blues.
The Judd family used the Christmas break to do some international travel, spending time between Dubai, London, Paris and Canada. Now, a refreshed Judd is back on the training track with the Blues and looking “like a 20-year-old”, but the results aren’t strictly limited to the 31-year-old, two-time Brownlow medallist. According to Carlton training and development director Rob Wiley, players across the board are peaking.
“During their pre-Christmas training, they had set (themselves) really high standards,” Wiley told the official Carlton website.
“They’d tackled all the challenges that were thrown at them … the testing that we did yesterday had very pleasing results.”
“The good thing is, from probably our oldest player down to our youngest player, all have shown excellent standards.
“Chris Judd, before he went on his overseas trip, was burning the track like he was a 20-year-old. And then you have someone like Patty Cripps, who after one year (of being drafted) has dropped a bit of weight and has gotten fitter.
“So right across the board, we have everyone that wants to make sure that 2015 is going to be much better.”
Wiley is managing the team’s build up in preparation for next month’s pre-season kick-off.
“We’ve got to be smart,” Wiley said. ”They’ve come back off that two-week break, so we’re not going to be jumping straight into the deep-end, we’ve got to slowly build them up.
“But within a week or so, we’ll be back to high-intense training. We’ve got out football camp at (Mount) Buller at the end of January – so we’ll build up to that.
“We’re probably only five or so weeks away from a game, so it’s a matter of getting the players ready for that.
The Blues will travel to Judd’s old stomping ground when they take on West Coast in Mandurah for an NAB Challenge hit out on February 27.
Photo: Michael Dodge/Getty Images.
