A massive bump that stopped Peter Hudson from making football history
Hudson had kicked 147 goals in 1971 heading into the grand final.
Before becoming the modern-day juggernaut they’d eventually become, Hawthorn for most of their early years featured towards the bottom-end of the VFL ladder.
A breakthrough premiership in 1961 against Footscray can be noted as the beginning of one of the league’s most successful clubs.
Despite the premiership and grand final loss in 1963, the Hawks were made to wait eight years before they got another crack on the big stage.
Entering 1971 with a young Leigh Matthews, Don Scott, Peter Crimmins, Kelvin Moore, Bob Keddie and David Parkin, a premiership looked likely in the near future.
However, the man who was likely to make the difference between winning a flag or not was Peter Hudson, a prolific full-forward from Tasmania.
Hudson burst onto the scene in his native Tasmania, where he played 78 games for New Norfolk Football Club from 1963-66, kicking 378 goals.
Is wasn’t long before VFL clubs began to inquire about Hudson’s services, with Hawthorn eventually securing his services.
Hudson’s first season in the brown and gold was a moderate success, kicking 57 goals from his 17 games - roughly 3.4 goals per game.
His next four seasons would consist of some of the most dominate forward displays in VFL/AFL history, kicking over 100 goals-a-year in all of those seasons.
In 1968 he would kick 125 goals (6.6 per game), in 1969 he would boot 120 goals (6.3 per game), before kicking a monstrous 146 goals (6.6 per game) in 1970.
Hudson’s 1970 total of 146 became the second most goals in a season by a VFL player, with South Melbourne legend Bob Pratt holding the record of 150 goals in 1934.
He would have likely surpassed Pratt’s record if the Hawks played finals in 1970.
The 1971 season would see Hawthorn produce one of their best ever seasons, finishing the year with 19 wins and only three losses.
While the whole team was playing inspired football, it was their big Tasmanian standing the goal square that was converting goals at an astounding rate.
In his 22 home and away matches Hudson’s goals per match timeline looked like this; 5, 4, 1, 7, 5, 3, 10, 7, 5, 5, 5, 6, 9, 7, 12, 6, 9, 6, 6, 3, 9, 10.
The first-placed Hawks would face second-placed St Kilda in the second semi-final, with the winner earning a place in the grand final.
Hudson would continue his great season, kicking seven goals in a two-point win over the Saints.
The Saints would end up beating Richmond in the preliminary final by 30 points, setting up another rematch against the high-flying Hawks.
Needing just three goals to equal Bob Pratt’s record, the Saints knew Hudson was going to be a key factor in the Hawks winning the flag.
Hudson’s three games against the Saints that season included bags of 7, 12 and 7 - an average of 8.6 goals per game.
Legendary Saints coach Allan Jeans was preparing for Hudson to kick at least six goals on grand final day - he thought that was a given.
However, St Kilda star Kevin ‘Cowboy’ Neale jokingly stated that "you can't kick goals if you're unconscious".
What started as a joke would then turn to action during a wet grand final in front of a massive crowd of 118,192 at the MCG.
Hudson started the first quarter sharply, kicking two early goals on full-back Bob Murray.
Needing only one goal in over three quarters of football to equal the league goalkicking record, it was only a matter of time before the crowd witnessed history.
With Hawthorn recording another inside 50, Neale took it upon himself to make a physical statment.
The man mountain collided with the Tasmanian, leaving him with double vision for the rest of the game.
Battered and unable to see clearly, Hudson was given a free-kick in the second quarter which he managed to convert, taking his tally to 150 for the year.
Throughout the rest of the game, he would be presented three massive opportunities to be the outright record holder.
He was disallowed a goal after he failed to kick the ball before the siren went, he missed everything after running into an open goal, and he would kick into the man on the mark after having a shot from the top of the goal square.
Fortunately for Hudson, despite his poor physical state, the Hawks pulled off one of the greatest grand final comebacks, coming back from 20 points down at three-quarter time to win by seven points.
Bob Keddie would be the hero, kicking four goals in the last quarter, after only having five disposals prior to that.
The 1971 premiership victory would be the beginning of Hawthorn’s dominance which would see them win eight premierships between 1971-1991.
Unfortunately, the 1971 flag would be Hudson’s only VFL flag, with two serious knee injuries resulting in him only playing four games from 1972-1974.
Hudson returned home to Tasmania, and in 1975 would become the playing coach of Glenorchy Football Club.
With two seasons under his belt, a return to Hawthorn would eventuate in 1977.
Hudson would kick 110 goals for the season and win the Coleman Medal, but the second-placed Hawks would lose to eventual premiers North Melbourne by 67 points.
After the defeat, the Tasmanian’s time in VFL was done, with a return to Glenorchy beckoning.
Despite being 32, Hudson’s goalkicking prowess never deserted him, finishing with 153 goals in 1978 and a mind-boggling 179 goals in 1979.
His retirement from the game was a loss for football fans across the country, as there were few players who displayed the same goalkicking ability as Hudson.
He was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996 and was elevated to ‘Legend’ status in 1999.
His citation reads: "A freakish full-forward who just kept accumulating goals. Made brilliant use of the body, was deadly accurate and had an amazing ability to read the play.”
To this day, Hudson still holds the record for the best VFL goals per game average (5.59 per game), with the record unlikely to be bettered anytime soon.
When taking into account VFL, TANFL, representative and night series games, Hudson played an overall total of 372 matches and kicked 2,191 goals.
Hudson’s legacy is further enhanced when including the fact he was only held goalless four times in his league career.
Those times were on Richmond's Barry Richardson in Round 7, 1969, Collingwood's Ian Cooper in Round 2, 1974, Carlton's Rod Austin in Round 14, 1977, and Sandy Bay’s Bruce Greenhill in 1978 TANFL season.
An immortal of our great game, Hudson’s career was nothing short of spectacular, and although he couldn’t break Bob Pratt’s record, the legacy he’s left is rivaled by few.