Mention the names Matthews and Hudson and footy fans immediately think of the Hawthorn Football Club during their glorious era that began with the pair's arrival at Glenferrie Oval in the late 1960's.It was a time when 'Lethal' Leigh Matthews and spearhead Peter Hudson thrilled the crowds by cutting a swathe through opposition backlines and helped launch the Hawks' most successful period in the club's history culminating in eight flags and numerous grand final appearances from 1971 to 1991.The dynamic duo combined for 1642 goals and five premierships during their illustrious careers - although only once did they play in the same premiership team together - the thrilling 1971 win over St Kilda.How many more they might have shared can only be speculated upon as Hudson's brilliant career virtually ended in 1972 with a crippling knee injury, but that is another story.However, the two names are linked again, but this time in the rapidly developing AFL frontier of Queensland following the recent announcement by the Brisbane Lions that Peter's son Paul would be joining four-time premiership coach Matthews as an assistant.A member of Hawthorn's last premiership team in 1991, Paul Hudson played a total of 245 AFL games and booted 479 goals - mainly with the Hawks before stints at the Western Bulldogs and Richmond.After retiring at the end of 2002, Hudson's coaching career began in Victoria's West Gippsland league before taking charge of the Gippsland Power U/18 side in the TAC Cup and in 2005 led the youngsters to a premiership in his first year at the helm.A casual chat with Matthews earlier this year eventually escalated with the Lions mentor offering Hudson the forward-line coaching role following the departure John Blakey to Sydney at seasons end."I played pretty well against Leigh when he was coaching Collingwood so maybe he remembered that," joked Hudson when asked this week how his new appointment came about.However, it was the opportunity to work with Matthews, the emerging AFL talent and helping the Lions through this transitional phase that mostly appealed to Hudson."To watch these kids come on and to have some input in their development is the most rewarding," he said. "But I don't think it is unrealistic for the Lions to aim for the top eight."One of the main sources of frustration for Matthews over the last couple of seasons has been the Lions poor conversion in front of goal especially with set shots and it is hoped that Hudson who found the gap between the big sticks more often than not can improve the Lions' accuracy and scoring opportunities."Looking at some statistics the Lions ability to kick from set-shots is way down, but the rest of the competition is around 65 per cent conversion," Hudson explained."I would like to think I can improve that by another five per cent but more importantly is don't let it drop away to 50 or below which has happened in the past."Hudson is looking forward to working with the likes of Jonathan Brown and spearhead Daniel Bradshaw, but will not take the pair for granted and needs to prepare for alternatives if either of the big guns succumb to injury."Having Browny fully fit and Daniel is a strong one on one player which is good, but there might be times where we have to revamp our forward line depending on the opposition,' he said."Guys in this day and professional age should be able to adapt to different set-ups."Hudson was also asked if he thought this job was a springboard to a future AFL senior coaching role?"You do aim for it but I am no rush," he replied."This is a stepping stone towards that, but there is no blueprint as every coach gets there differently."It has a lot do with your thoughts, structures and personality and experience so there are many influences as to whether you get there and a lot has to do with the timing - but I am well off that at the moment.'The assistants' roles are now complete for Matthews who is content with the mix and the part each will play as the Lions endeavour to climb back into the eight in 2007.Hudson (forwards) joins fellow newcomer and recently retired Lions vice-captain, triple premiership player and All- Australian defender Justin Leppitsch who will look after the backline.Meanwhile long-time servant Craig Lambert must prepare some post-Voss strategies in the midfield and in his second year at the Gabba, former Adelaide dual-premiership ruckman Shaun Rehn will continue his work with the tall-timber.