IN 129 matches through nine seasons at Hawthorn, Peter Hudson was kept goalless by just three opponents.

The first of them was Richmond’s Barry Richardson in Round 7, 1969 at the MCG; then came Collingwood’s Ian Cooper in Round 2, 1974 at Princes Park; and finally Carlton’s Rod ‘Curly’ Austin in Round 14, 1977.

That afternoon - Saturday, July 2, 1977 at Princes Park – Austin lined up at full-back on Hudson, in a year in which Carlton experimented with the recognised full-back Geoff Southby up the ground.

According to AFL Tables, Hudson managed six kicks, four marks and two handballs in the Carlton match – and contributed a solitary behind to the Hawk’s final scoreline of 7.6.

But Austin, who recalled John Nicholls first putting him to full-back to stand the Collingwood spearhead Peter McKenna, offered a greater insight into his one-on-one with ‘Huddo’ some 44 years after the event.

“I remember we won and it was an important game,” Austin said of the Hawthorn match in ’77. “I know he (Hudson) had a couple of shots for goal which he missed, thankfully, as it would have been a different story.”

In recalling his full four-quarter pairing with Hudson (who was forced from the field after only a half of the aforementioned Collingwood match involving Cooper in ’74), Austin revealed that he had stood the Tasmanian spearhead previously and had fared reasonably well.

“I was aware of the fact that he used to sneak out the back door a bit, so it was more about me playing off him and getting the ball to ground,” said Austin, who also found a way to keep Leigh Matthews in check in subsequent contests involving Carlton and Hawthorn.

“You couldn’t get into a wrestling match with him (Hudson). You had to play off him a little bit and either get in front or spoil from behind. I used to play slightly behind his right shoulder and I was a left hander anyway. I tried to make a decision as the ball was coming of the boot of a Hawthorn player upfield, either to spoil or get in front of him.

“You look at players today and a lot of them get sucked into the ball, whereas I used my opponent as the starting point and then made a calculated choice based on who had the ball and where you thought it would go.”

It was here that Austin was quick to commend the wiseheads around him – Southby, Bruce Doull and Kevin Heath – the latter having known Hudson’s idiosyncrasies when they were teammates at Glenferrie Oval.

“I needed a lot of help around me in the event I got caught in a one-on-one with him (Hudson). I needed blokes coming over the top to help with the spoil as well.”

Hudson’s 129 games with Hawthorn yielded a staggering 727 goals and took in four seasons in which he topped the League’s goalkicking – including 1971 when he famously booted 150 goals for season – a feat realised only once before by South Melbourne’s Bob Pratt.

“He was a great player Peter. He kicked all those goals with those mongrel flat punts, his range was 30-40 metres, but he’d kick them from anywhere – and ‘Big Nick’ was a flat punt kick also,” Austin said. “He was strong too Peter. If he got in front of you you couldn’t spoil him because he protected the football with his body, and that’s what you didn’t want as a full-back.

“He wasn’t a good pack mark but he was good on the lead, was quick off the mark and read the ball really well.”

Austin’s famous individual feat in keeping Hudson goalless contributed in no small way to a meritorious Carlton victory over the reigning Premier – seven days after the Blues had lowered their colours to Fitzroy at the Junction Oval, in what was Tony Southcombe’s last hurrah before heading home to Bendigo.

Carlton v Hawthorn - R.14, Saturday, July 2, 1977 at Princes Park

CARLTON        3.3     7.7     8.8      9.8 (62)

HAWTHORN    2.1     3.2     4.3      7.6 (48)

Goalkickers: Keogh 4, McKay 2, Mangels 1, Armstrong 1, Jesaulenko

Best: Armstrong, Austin, Doull, Southby, McKay, Keogh, Mangels, Ashman