It was round 15, 2006. Sydney had lost three of their past four, and went to Perth in need of something special to rekindle their premiership defence. The story goes the instructions went something like this: "Goodesy, we've decided you're playing on Chris Judd this week … good luck."

"True story, yeah," Goodes said this week. "It was over in Perth, the Eagles were flying, and the role wasn't to go out there and be a defensive midfielder because that's not my role. It was to go head-to-head with Chris Judd, and I looked forward to the challenge, went out there, went head-to-head with Chris Judd and really enjoyed it.

"I really enjoyed having to worry about him at stoppages but at the same time being able to go after the footy myself. He's a fantastic competitor, he's never out of the contest, especially around the stoppages, he attracts the football so well, and keeps his hands free and gets a lot of handballs away."

Roos said this week the reason they decided to go that way was because they hadn't had a lot of success previously, "So we thought, 'Let's just do things a little bit differently."'

Sydney assistant coach Mark Stone was managing the midfield at the Eagles at that time. He recalls hearing that the Brownlow medallists would be playing on each other.

"I actually thought that 'Woosher' [Eagles coach John Worsfold] and 'Roosy' had sat down at the table and basically said, 'We'll give you Juddy, you give us Goodesy,' and shook hands on it, because I think both parties were happy," Stone said.

"From a West Coast point of view, we knew how hard it was to play on Goodesy, but this way we would still get our player who can play attacking footy as well. I think there was deal done before the game. It was a great to watch. I think people love to go and see those match-ups more so than a negating match-up, having a tagger play on a good player."

The Eagles won by two points that night. Goodes was Sydney's best, Judd the best for the Coast. The Eagle would claim three Brownlow votes, the Swan two, and the match-up was the most talked about of the season.

Judd has joined Carlton, and his leadership has shone through while his game has had to change. But all that has done is enhance his reputation.

Why is Chris Judd so good?

"I think it's his competitiveness, just his hardness and his hard ball getting ability, and his quick hands, and then he can break the game open with his pace, kicking, running and handballing to blokes on the outside," Goodes said. "He can bring people into the game through his hard work and hardness at the contest.

"He's a fantastic inside player, and you've seen that this year. He's definitely changed his role but if he has those opportunities to get outside you and use his pace and break the lines, he can do that as well."

Sydney co-captain Brett Kirk says he has "so much respect" for Judd. "He's winning a lot more contested footy inside at Carlton, and he's got some great ball carriers on his outside and he's really complementing them," Kirk said. "He's got everything. His competitive nature, too, I really like the way he goes about his footy, being able to stand up in tackles, his explosiveness … I could talk all day about him."

Stone speaks of Judd's competitive nature "in anything whether that's football, table tennis or getting ahead in life" and his ability "think forward". "He's extremely skilfully talented, he's gifted with his skills. He's athletically very talented, he's probably one of the strongest players I've seen through the core, which is why he can stand in tackles and drag two or three guys along and then dish out a handball, and why he can break away from opponents that are right next to him," Stone said. "But the thing that makes him stand out for me above anything else, apart from skill and talent, is his power of concentration and his ability to think forward."

While they are unlikely to be head-to-head this week, Goodes and his Swans meet Judd and the Blues at Telstra Dome on Sunday in a crucial contest for both clubs. Sydney are trying to cling to a top-four berth, and Carlton hope to climb into the eight.