Ken Judge (15 January 1958 – 15 January 2016) was an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er and coach.

Playing career

East Fremantle Football Club

Judge played 120 games for

East Fremantle East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that eas ...

in the

Western Australian Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL "waffle" or "W-A-F-L") is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting f ...

and was an important member of Old East's team in the 1979 grand final win over archrival South Fremantle, one of the most famous grand finals in Western Australian footy folklore.

Hawthorn Football Club

Recruited by Hawthorn, Judge played 72 games from 1983 until 1986, and made an immediate impact playing in a premiership in his first season and winning the Hawks' Best First Year Player award. Judge also played in the

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...

s of

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

and

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

but struggled for selection in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

Brisbane Bears

He moved to the

Brisbane Bears The Brisbane Bears were a professional Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, now known as the Brisbane Lions. Granted a Australian Football League, Victorian Football League (VFL), licence in 1986, ...

, where he played another 17 games without making much impact in

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

and

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

Coaching career

East Fremantle Football Club

Judge retired from playing at the end of 1988 and returned to Western Australia to take up various coaching roles. As a coach, he enjoyed premiership success with his former club,

, in

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

and

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

Carlton Football Club assistant coach (1995)

In 1995, Judge was appointed as an assistant coach at , Carlton had the most successful premiership season to that time. On the strength of a recommendation from Carlton Football Club senior coach David Parkin, who was also a former Hawthorn captain and premiership coach.

Hawthorn Football Club senior coach (1996-1999)

Judge was appointed senior coach of Hawthorn from 1996 until 1999, finishing 8th and therefore reaching the finals in his first year. However, in the following years Hawthorn struggled and finished 15th in the 1997 season and 13th in the 1998 season before just missing out of the finals in 1999, finishing 9th. Judge then resigned as Hawthorn senior coach, with a year to run on his contract. Judge was then replaced by Peter Schwab as Hawthorn Football Club senior coach.

West Coast Eagles senior coach (2000-2001)

Judge then returned to Western Australia as senior coach of the

West Coast Eagles The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 and first competed in 1987 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known ...

, after

Mick Malthouse Michael Raymond Malthouse (born 17 August 1953) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach, who played for the St Kilda Football Club and Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). After finishing his playing career, ...

stepped down as West Coast Eagles senior coach at the end of the 1999 season. Judge coached West Coast Eagles for the 2000 and 2001 AFL seasons. He was unsuccessful during his time there, where West Coast Eagles under Judge finished 13th in the 2000 season and 14th in the 2001 season before he was sacked at the end of the 2001 season and replaced by John Worsfold as West Coast Eagles senior coach.

Radio career

Following the end of his coaching career, Judge worked for the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...

(ABC) as a sports commentator for

ABC Radio Grandstand ABC Sport, formerly ABC Radio Grandstand, is a live radio sports focused commentary and talk-back program which runs on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) local radio network across Australia and on one digital-only station. History ...

. In 2009, he apologised for an on-air gaffe when he referred to fellow commentator Jon Dorotich as "bigger than Hitler's last gas bill".

Death

Judge died on his 58th birthday in Perth, Western Australia on 15 January 2016 from

multiple myeloma Multiple myeloma (MM), also known as plasma cell myeloma and simply myeloma, is a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell that normally produces antibody, antibodies. Often, no symptoms are noticed initially. As it progresses, bone ...

. He had been diagnosed with the blood condition in mid-2010 and had undergone several bouts of chemotherapy treatment. He was laid to rest on 25 January in Perth.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Judge, Ken 1958 births 2016 deaths West Coast Eagles coaches Brisbane Bears players East Fremantle Football Club players Hawthorn Football Club players Hawthorn Football Club premiership players Hawthorn Football Club coaches Western Australian State of Origin players East Fremantle Football Club coaches Australian rules footballers from Western Australia Australian rules football commentators Deaths from cancer in Western Australia Deaths from multiple myeloma VFL/AFL premiership players