Helicopter Huddo
Tassie goalkicking legend got royal treatment
SEVERAL kilograms overweight, recovering from a knee reconstruction and having not played a game in 17 months, Peter Hudson knows he should never have agreed to suit up for Hawthorn in Round 21 of 1973.
But the passionate request had come from Hawthorn coach John Kennedy, who remains the most respected figure in the club’s history, and not many people could say no when the man known as “Kanga” came calling.
And the Hawks were desperate to defeat top-placed Collingwood at Waverley to keep their finals dream alive, so a plan was put in place that would see the humble VFL enter the realm of James Bond with a helicopter to be part of Hudson’s Saturday morning mercy dash from his home in Hobart to VFL Park.
It had all begun the previous season, when Hudson was on track to challenge Fred Fanning’s record of 18 goals in a game, having kicked eight before halftime at Glenferrie Oval before his world came crashing down when his right knee buckled. Hudson was a goalkicking god, having booted 125 in 1968, 120 in 1969, 146 in 1970 and a record-equalling 150 in 1971.
His fame was such that a Hawthorn-based minister, in an attempt to inspire his flock, had posted on the church board “What would you do if Jesus Christ came to Hawthorn today?” To call the response graffiti would be doing it a disservice, the scrawl reading “Move Peter Hudson to centre half-forward.”
That gives you some insight into Hudson’s fame, a man who still holds the AFL record with a goalkicking average of 5.64 per game.
Sadly, his career seemed over at age 26, Hudson returning to his native Hobart to take up an offer from local businessman Bob Arthur to run the Granada Tavern in Glenorchy.
As a hotelier Hudson’s skill was similar to his footballing ability, with the Granada Tavern becoming a thriving business. And as fate would have it, the Granada had booked a hot young comedy act named Norman Gunston for the Friday night before Round 21.
“When John Kennedy first rang me about coming back, I’m sure he thought I would be in some sort of reasonable condition. When he realised I wasn’t the plan was for a twoweek training program with me to fly over on the Friday before the game,” recalled Hudson, 73. “I improved a bit but not enough for a meeting with a Collingwood side that was on the top of the ladder. And with Norman Gunston appearing, I couldn’t leave on the Friday. By the time Norman finished it was around 1am Saturday, then it was home for a sleep. As I was brushing my teeth before heading to the airport that morning, there was a phone call from the airline saying fog across the east coast of Australia had closed most airports, and that my flight was postponed and wouldn’t get to Melbourne on time.
“But they had a plane that had been diverted to Hobart which was flying for Melbourne in 45 minutes and they were happy to take me. So my wife Steph and father-in-law Ted Dillon jumped on the plane with a couple of pilots, five hostesses and nobody else.
“We arrived at Tullamarine where the helicopter was waiting, complete with some quiche for our lunch. The idea of the helicopter ... was to avoid the traffic to Waverley which was often a nightmare.
“We landed at the Police Academy just near the ground, then it was into a car to the arena. I didn’t have much going for me because I was so unfit and so far removed from match hardness.”
Which prompts the question: how in the heck did he kick eight goals from 15 kicks?
Hudson describes it as one of those games where the ball just seemed to go to the right place at the right time.
The downside was Hawthorn lost by 18 points, ending their finals dream, not that Hudson could have played because of his cartilage damage.
After the game it was back to the chopper and out to Tullamarine so he could be back at the Granada for the second night of Norman Gunston.
At that stage he figured his career to be over, but Hudson returned to help Glenorchy to the 1975 TFL flag before flying in for the 1977 season with Hawthorn for 110 goals.