Invited to Richmond the following year, Judkins was forced to remain in the VFA for one more season due to clearance problems, caused by a dispute between the two competitions.

He arrived at the club at the start of a golden era, and starred in the Tigers' semifinal win over Carlton, but was quiet during the loss to Collingwood in the Grand Final three weeks later.

Judkins missed the Tigers' 1929 finals appearance due to injury, but started the next season in blistering form, which eventually petered out.

Dropped from the side five weeks before the finals, Judkins languished in the seconds, unaware he was about to make history and change the way the game would decide its best player award.

It transpired that the VFL administration had overruled the umpires board and used a criterion that stated the medal be awarded to the player who played the fewest games.

From 1930 to 1935, Judkins formed one of the great centrelines in the game, teaming with centreman Eric Zschech and fellow wingman Alan Geddes.

Richmond relied heavily on stability and reliability to achieve success, and being able to select the same centreline every week helped tremendously.

He had a brief stint in the country leagues of Victoria as a playing coach, notably leading the strong Albury club to the premiership in 1937.

His son Noel played in the Under-19s for Richmond, became an administrator with the Tigers and was later headhunted by Kevin Sheedy to oversee recruiting at Essendon.