Carlton champion Chris Judd will decide this week whether to call time on his decorated AFL career after suffering a serious knee injury in Saturday's loss to Adelaide.
The dual Brownlow medallist was pretty sure he had ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament as soon as he went down in the first quarter following a marking contest with Crow Patrick Dangerfield - a prognosis later confirmed by medical staff.
"I've done a medial ligament before and the feeling was just a bit different to that," the 31-year-old Judd told Channel Nine on Sunday.
"It was a really sharp pain at the start and after the first 20 seconds, not incredibly painful after that."
Judd seriously contemplated retirement at the end of the 2014 campaign before signing a further one-year contract.
If he were to undergo a traditional knee reconstruction he would face 12 months on the sidelines.
He did not completely rule out going for a LARS reconstruction that could potentially see him return before the end of the current season - although it shapes as a highly unlikely option.
"It will be based on what the surgeon thinks is likely to deliver the best outcome, so they will be discussions I will have with him," said Judd.
The young Blues stepped up in Judd's absence on Saturday, hitting the front in the last quarter and threatening to claim what would only have been their second win of the season, before going down by nine points to Adelaide.
After the match, Blues caretaker coach John Barker stopped short of declaring that Judd's playing career was over, a decision that will be left to the player.
"The main thing now is just to take a deep breath, sit down and have a chat with the club, have a chat with my family and then make a call some time this week," said Judd.
The midfielder has played 279 matches for West Coast and Carlton since making his debut with the Eagles back in 2002.
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