Norwood’s Ben Jefferies, Matt Fuller and Callum Bartlett announce retirements from SANFL
A TRIO of Norwood premiership heroes – including two best and fairest winners and an ex-AFL player – have hung up their boots at The Parade.
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A TRIO of Norwood premiership heroes – including two best and fairest winners and an ex-AFL player – have hung up their boots at The Parade.
Rebounding defender Matt Fuller, industrious wingman Ben Jefferies and classy half-forward Callum Bartlett all announced their retirements at the club’s awards night last month.
For Jefferies, a premiership player in Norwood’s 2012-14 triumphs, the Redlegs’ heartbreaking grand final loss to North Adelaide last month gave him second thoughts about giving it up.
“If we had won I was definitely done, but after we lost I had that empty feeling and it made it a but harder,” Jefferies, 28, says.
“It’s mainly because I’ve just started a new job so I wanted a bit more time to focus on that.”
Along with the hat-trick of flags, Jefferies also took home a best and fairest in 2013 in his 131 games for the club.
He will pull on the boots alongside brother Tom and former teammate Tim Webber at Onkaparinga Valley in the Hills Football League next season.
It is a long way from Jefferies’ beginnings at the club, where he says he played “a lot” of reserves football and was a “shocking kick”.
“At the start I was just worried that Bass (coach Nathan Bassett) was going to give me a call and say I’m out,” he says. “Three premierships is crazy when I think about where I was then.”
Fuller, a 2013 premiership winner and 2016 best and fairest, finished on 125 games for the Redlegs and says his body began to let him down as his career went on.
The 28-year-old also spent a year on the Western Bulldogs’ list in 2014.
Fuller admits in the early days he would spend more time at The Parade than at home.
“I used to live in Gumeracha and would come down and do some work or what-not and didn’t have anything else to do so I would end up staying at the club for five or six hours at a time and just lingered around,” Fuller says.
“It’s a terrific place and plenty of history in the walls. Now I’m just looking forward to the new clubrooms to be built and sit up on the balcony and watch the boys.”
Fuller plans to continue playing with mates in the Adelaide Hills, but is yet to commit to a club.
Bartlett, 27, retires after 54 league games and 44 goals for the Redlegs.
The left-footer was recruited from the Brisbane Lions and also played in Norwood’s 2014 flag.