The Boltons – Blood brothers
By Alison Zell
Google Jude Bolton’s name and you’ll quickly stumble upon a Wikipedia page full of achievements: 321 AFL games – the second-most in red and white, two Premierships, two Best Clubman awards, seven consecutive top-10 finishes in the Bob Skilton Medal and the man who holds the record for the most tackles ever since statistics have been recorded.
But, like Craig Bolton’s Wikipedia page, it also has the line: “Jude Bolton is unrelated to former Swans teammate Craig Bolton”.
“It’s one of the most asked questions I get, ‘Who was your toughest opponent’ and then ‘Are you related to Jude?’” former Sydney Swans co-captain and current AFL NSW/ACT Deputy General Manager Craig Bolton said.
“A lady wrote to the club one time and said our mother must be shattered that not only did the football record not acknowledge us as brothers but it had our birthdates different,” he laughed.
“She said the mother of twin boys would be so disappointed.
“I get it all the time about him being my brother, it would be Jude’s number one pet peeve but I’m pretty happy with that, he’s a good looking man.”
Jude Bolton arrived at the Swans at the end of 1998 as a number eight draft pick and since then he has remarkably averaged more than 20 games a season over 15 years.
On Monday the 33-year-old told a packed media conference that this season would be his last.
“I’d love to be here to announce a new four year deal or something like that,” he joked.
“I am really appreciative of the support I have had over the journey.
“This will be my final season with the club, it has been a great journey and I have enjoyed every moment. I was extremely lucky to be drafted to the club as an 18-year-old.”
Craig Bolton arrived at the club a few years later in 2003 after beginning his career at Brisbane, but it wasn’t the first time the two Boltons had met.
“We played against each other growing up – he played for the Calder Cannons and I played for the NSW/ACT Rams – so we played TAC Cup against each other and we played a lot of state footy against each other being the same age,” Craig said.
“We played on each other as juniors so we already knew of each other and then he got drafted up here, I moved to Brisbane and then four years later we finally got to know each other.”
While Jude quickly cemented himself as an uncompromising midfielder on the field, he had quite a different reputation off the field in the early days of his career.
“He had this reputation, I think he was on an early episode of Neighbours and he did quite a few modelling shoots when he first came, he had that pretty boy image but he quickly turned that around with the way he played,” Craig said.
“He’ll never live the fact that he wore head gear in the 2005 grand final down; I don’t think he was too happy with it but we enjoyed it.”
The phrase “looks like Jane but plays like Tarzan” is often thrown around when mentioning Jude and a Swans coach once famously said that he would come into the game pretty but wouldn’t leave that way.
Coach John Longmire paid tribute to his tough and uncompromising attack on the ball throughout his entire career.
“I wouldn’t have seen anyone braver than Jude,” Longmire said.
“It’s just been a magnificent career that this bloke has had.
“He’s probably been the best clubman I’ve ever been involved with.”
Craig echoed Longmire’s thoughts.
“John’s comment that he hasn’t seen a player in his time that is the calibre of person Jude is is really true, he’s one of the best guys you’ll meet and anyone who comes across him knows that,” he said.
“He was one of the best blokes to play with because you just knew he would give everything for the team.
“He didn’t have a selfish gene in his body and along with Kirky (Brett Kirk), you’re probably splitting hairs when you’re talking about who the hardest player was.
“He’s one of those players that uncompromisingly put his body in and his head over the footy every time. I can’t ever remember seeing Jude Bolton shirk a contest and I think he set the standard for everyone to follow him.”
And Craig said Jude’s leadership extended off the field too.
“He’s probably, more than anyone, also set the standard about being a good person above being a good footballer,” Craig said.
“He’s done a lot of work inside the club and outside that not many people see but he’s a fantastic role model for both young players and members of the community.”
Jude said he felt the time was right to retire, after seeing the young talent coming through the ranks at the Swans, and believing he’d take a spot from one of the younger players next year.
“We’ve got some great talent coming through and that’s what I want to see – it’s the footy life cycle,” Jude said.
Craig wasn’t surprised by this response.
“It’s what you expect,” Craig said.
“To people who don’t know him, they might be nicely surprised to hear someone say that but that’s just what we expect from him and you know he’s not just saying that, he means that genuinely and he’s always put the team first.
“Players who’ve played 300 games are pretty hard to find but when you consider how he did it, with such enthusiasm and tenacity and also humility, makes him a really rare breed.
“I’ve got no doubt he’s made this decision at the right time and hopefully he gets the send off in a month’s time that he deserves.”