Grigg turned down Judd to stay BlueSteve Butler
Canberra Times
23 Apr, 2011 Richmond Tigers' recruit Shaun Grigg has revealed trying times as he was forced to deny an 11th-hour bid by Carlton captain Chris Judd to stop him leaving the Blues at the end of last season.
Grigg, one of the Tigers' best with a 25-possession average in the first four games, confirmed Judd visited his Essendon home last year after Carlton had been bundled out of the finals by Sydney a game he was left out of despite having 24 possessions against Fremantle in the last game of the year.
Although Judd had been his Blues idol since being drafted to the club in 2006, Grigg remained firm on his commitment to Richmond.
The 23-year-old said he didn't want to look back later and regret not making a move to where more opportunity was guaranteed.
Watching the demise of friend Brendan Fevola had also cemented an attitude that he had little time to waste in his football life.
''It was a very hard decision after having four great years at the Blues and playing with some great players like Anthony Koutoufides, Matthew Lappin, Lance Whitnall and Chris Judd, obviously,'' Grigg said.
''I'm good friends with Chris and I tried to stick to him like glue and I've learnt a lot off him about what you have to do to be an AFL player.
''We had a chat about everything, I asked him his opinion, he told me what he thought ... he said he wanted to play a few more years of footy with me. I would have loved to do it, but at the end of the day it was my decision and I had to stick to it once I'd made it.
''I made some great friends over the four years and having to tell those blokes was probably the hardest because they're your mates. But it was just about opportunity I want to play AFL and make my mark and get the best out of myself. I'm sure Fev has a few regrets from his time in the AFL and I want to just learn from that.''
Grigg only played against North Melbourne twice during his four seasons at Carlton and they resulted in combined losing margins of 133 points. He was optimistic that trend would be reversed when Richmond play the Kangaroos at Etihad Stadium tomorrow.
Having yet to taste victory as a Tiger, he said he was also keen to sing the club's theme song, which was also the celebration tune of his junior club, Redan.
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