OUTGOING Carlton president Stephen Kernahan regrets that the Blues included key forward Josh Kennedy in the trade that helped them secure Chris Judd from West Coast at the end of 2007.
Kernahan told Triple M's Rush Hour on Wednesday that the Blues would never regret acquiring Judd, but said he would not have included Kennedy in that trade if he had his time again.
"I would never knock back what Chris Judd's given our football club," Kernahan said.
"That (deal) went to about the last 30 seconds of the trade period.
"We had picks one, three and 20. We had three and 20 on the table, Richmond had two and 12 on the table.
"Judd was either going to stay [at West Coast] – he didn't want to go to Richmond – so we had to make a call and the only bloke they were interested in the whole time was Kennedy.
"We offered to put up the whole team, just about. And Josh Kennedy, you can't let centre-half-forwards go."
Judd will go down as one of the Blues' all-time greats, having won the 2010 Brownlow Medal, three best and fairest awards and four All Australian selections. He also captained Carlton from 2008-12.
But the Blues have struggled to find a key forward to replace Kennedy since his departure.
At the time, Kennedy, the No. 4 pick in the 2005 NAB AFL Draft, had played 22 games in two seasons at Carlton.
He has since kicked 228 goals in 104 games with the Eagles and was their leading goalkicker in 2011 and 2013.
Kernahan said the Blues' efforts to find a partner for Jarrad Waite in attack had been handicapped in the past five years by the draft concessions given to expansion clubs Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney.
"Everyone asks me, 'Where are all the big blokes?' I'll tell you where they are, they've all been stored at Gold Coast and GWS," Kernahan said.
The Eagles used the No. 3 pick they received in the Judd deal to take Chris Masten. The midfielder had a slow start to his AFL career, but has since established himself as an important player at West Coast and has played 102 games.
The Eagles used pick 20 on forward Tony Notte, who played just two games before being delisted.
In addition to Judd, the Blues received pick No. 46 from the Eagles, which they used to take Denis Armfield, who has played 105 games.
