HE MAY be the old man of the Brisbane Lions, but veteran ruckman Ben Hudson is revelling in his AFL lifeline.
Hudson's 143-game career appeared over at the end of 2011 when he announced his retirement from the Western Bulldogs.
But with Jamie Charman hanging up the boots in Brisbane, the Lions began the hunt for another experienced body to share the workload with emerging ruck star Matthew Leuenberger.
Enter Hudson.
The former Adelaide and Western Bulldogs hard man was heading to Queensland with his wife Rita and young son Ignatius to start life after footy.
Rita is from Queensland and Hudson himself moved from Victoria to the Gold Coast at the age of eight.
"I'd told my wife I'd retired and I'd told everyone else," Hudson said after training in Brisbane's blistering summer heat.
"It came out of the blue. The Lions gave me a call after the Grand Final and asked whether I'd be interested in having a run around.
"I went away and thought about it and thought 'it's not a bad job to have so I'll keep going'. I was always going to move back to Queensland so it's worked out well. The footy club has been a great place to continue footy."
Hudson has never been a man to follow the traditional AFL script, not picking up a Sherrin until his late teens.
His first organised games came at the age of 21 when he played in Queensland's third tier competition for the University of Queensland.
Hudson quickly found his way to AFLQ club Mt Gravatt - where he won a premiership in 2002 - before heading back to Melbourne to play for Werribee.
From there it was on to the Crows from 2004 before, four years later, he joined the Bulldogs.
Hudson is now living at the northern end of the Gold Coast and says the training and trips up and down the Pacific Motorway are no problem.
"I'm surviving. It (training) was a bit of a shock to the system the first couple of weeks but it's been good," he said.
"If you've lived in Melbourne it takes half an hour to get a coffee, so 40 minutes (drive) is not too bad."
Hudson's primary role at the Lions is to help nurture and take pressure off Leuenberger and draftee Billy Longer.
Both rucks - nine and 14 years his junior respectively - have nothing but admiration for Hudson and the way he plays his footy.
"The Lions have obviously got a great young ruckman in Leuey. He's had some good years the last couple of years, and has got the potential to take it to the next level," Hudson said.
"He's got every attribute I don't have; height, pace, skill. And Billy, the young kids are nearly ready to go, he's such a big body. Both of them are going to be great players in the future."
Hudson - who turns 33 on the eve of the Lions' first NAB Cup fixtures against Gold Coast and Melbourne on February 25 - could not think of a better way to end his career.
"I started at uni so it was a roundabout way. And Mt Gravatt, it's our 10-year anniversary from a premiership, so that shows how old I am," he said.
"It's great. I get to finish off my career in front of family and friends. You rarely get to play footy in your home state and I get to finish here.
"I don't think most of the young blokes can believe I didn't play until I was 19. I wouldn't change it; it's been great. You get to see footy from every aspect from your social kick-about at uni, which I have great memories about, to playing at the MCG in front of 100,000.
"Footy's a great game, it doesn't matter what level you play at. If you can get paid for it, it's just a bonus."
MichaelWhiting covers Brisbane Lions news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_mikewhiting
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