Dave’s Football Blog

So Chris Judd is no longer a West Coast Eagle. He was traded to Carlton yesterday for two draft picks (#3 & #20) and a 20-year-old forward named Josh Kennedy, who tore up the minor-league VFL but struggled a bit in his first AFL footy action.

Now the Eagles, who in spite of a drugtastic offseason may have been one or two key injuries away from another Grand Final, can bring in some youngsters to build for the future. The father of one such youngster, however, wants nothing to do with that future.

Peter Cotchin, father of star midfielder Trent, told The Courier-Mail he was concerned his 17-year-old boy could land in a dangerous environment. “It’s just the culture of the footy club. In the back of your mind you do worry about those things,” Mr Cotchin said.

What, you think a stint in Perth will make your son rip the antenna out of a taxi so he can beat the driver with it? Surely, you raised your boy to know better than this, no?

Mr. Cotchin was confident his son would not be lured on to the path of some of the club’s troubled big-name players if he was picked up by the Perth club.

“But again, the pressure is always there and even if they go out he could be like a (Alan) Didak - subject to something that he didn’t think he was getting in to and in the wrong spot at the wrong time,” he said.

“He could go out to a function with the guys and all of a sudden something happens and his name is dragged through the mud and you think: ‘Well, this is not what he’s supposed to be doing’.”

Okay, so he’s a little more forthcoming than Archie Manning, who never really explained why he didn’t want his boy Eli not to go to San Diego. Last I checked, the Chargers didn’t have any sort of pervasive drug culture among their players, Shawne Merriman’s dabbling in steroids aside.

Still, the whole point of a draft in a closed league like the AFL is to allow the weaker teams to get the best players so that they can be competitive with the rest of the league. Carlton has already made itself more competitive by giving two picks to West Coast to get Judd, and now the Eagles will want to get the best player available. Unless Richmond takes Trent Cotchin with the #2 pick, the boy is probably going to be an Eagle.

Will Peter Cotchin step in and try to force a trade? Wouldn’t that be fun to watch?

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