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Ben Hudson

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Ben Hudson

Ben Hudson (born 24 February 1979) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Adelaide Football Club, Western Bulldogs, Brisbane Lions and Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He has served as the defensive skills, ruck and forwards coach at the Brisbane Lions since September 2014. He was also the ruck coach for Collingwood after being selected as a mature age rookie player in the 2012 rookie draft.

Hudson was born in Victoria, but moved to Queensland at 8 years old where he grew up in Palm Beach, a suburb of the Gold Coast. He first played junior football for Palm Beach Currumbin before focusing on basketball while he attended Somerset College on the Gold Coast throughout his teenage years.

Hudson played basketball until 2000, when he began driving to Brisbane to study physiotherapy at the University of Queensland, living at Union College, where he played for the University of Queensland Australian Football Club at 21 years of age as a ruckman. His coach later recommended that he play for Mount Gravatt Football Club where he played under coach Danny Craven.

At Mount Gravatt, he won a best and fairest in 2001, before taking part in the club's 2002 premiership side. That year he represented Queensland against Western Australia.

He later returned to Victoria, where he tried out with the Werribee Football Club, where at the relatively late age of 24, Adelaide Football Club talent scouts recognised his skills and lured him to the AFL at pick number 58 in the 2003 AFL draft.

As a mobile ruckman, Hudson enjoyed a successful debut before seriously injuring the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during a fall on the eve of the 2005 finals series. He required a full knee reconstruction, which resulted in the return of veteran ruckman Matthew Clarke back from the brink of retirement.

Hudson recovered well from the injury to play in the SANFL late in 2006. He returned to the Crows in 2007 and performed well throughout the year, playing 22 games, garnering 366 hit-outs and finishing second overall in the AFL for hardball gets.

During the year he was suspended for one week by the club for breaking the team curfew. He was also allegedly upset by criticism from Adelaide coach Neil Craig.

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