2024 AFL grand final: Jarrod Berry on 2023 heartbreak, his mum Jedda and how important family is

Jarrod Berry lost his mum as a teenager. His dad Troy can see a bit of her in the Lions star, and how that will help him to overcome last year’s agonising loss – and his role in it.

Of all the characteristics Brisbane Lions star Jarrod Berry inherited from his late mother, Jedda, resilience and a sense of family and connection shine through like a beacon.

It’s something that warms the heart of his father Troy, as he knows Jarrod and his brothers Thomas and Joel have had to call on those traits – and more – to deal with the challenges life has thrown at them over the years.

As teenagers, losing their mother to breast cancer in 2013 after a determined eight-year fight to stay alive was the most heartbreaking experience of their lives.

So losing a game of football, or even losing a classic grand final even in shattering circumstances, was never going to hurt as much, even in the manner that Jarrod experienced last September.

In a moment of over-exuberance on footy’s biggest stage, he dragged Steele Sidebottom to ground after a mark, which brought about a 50m penalty and Collingwood’s last goal of the game.

It proved a key moment in the Lions’ four-point grand final loss.

That moment has stung Berry ever since as he conceded in the rooms last week after the Lions qualified for a shot at redemption.

He has thought about it a lot.

But it has also driven him in a way that his father said reminded him of Jedda’s single-minded determination to overcome her hurdles.

“If you get our three boys in a room together, I can still see Jedda in each of them,” Troy Berry told the Herald Sun.

Brisbane AFL footballer Jarrod Berry with mum, Jedda, who died from breast cancer, and brothers Tom (Gold Coast Suns player) and Joel. Picture: supplied

Brisbane AFL footballer Jarrod Berry with mum, Jedda, who died from breast cancer. Picture: supplied

“Jarrod has that resilience … he has had to deal with a lot of adversity, but he just finds a way to get through it.

“You can judge people on what they have done and what they have achieved, but as humans, Jarrod and his brothers are as good as you are going to get.

“It’s so deserved that he is back (in a grand final). I have no doubt his mum will be looking down on him, giving him lots of inspiration along the way.”

Jarrod was emotional in the rooms last week after the preliminary final win over Geelong, explaining how the Sidebottom moment had sat with him for more than a year.

But he stressed the support of those closest to him – and the lessons learnt from his mum – played a big part in getting him through the pain.

“Footy is a big part of my life, but it isn’t the only part of my life,” Berry said. “Losing my mum quite young (he was 15) taught me about resilience and I have been blessed to have a great support network to help me get through those (dark) moments.

“When you are not playing footy and you finish a grand final, and you have a moment like that, it is very, very tough in the off-season.

“But I had the right people around me, my partner Ella, my mates, my old man Troy, my family and the club.

“We are a very tight family.

“We’ve been through a lot, but we’ve got each other.”

Darcy Wilmot and Jarrod Berry after the Lions’ semi-final win against GWS. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

Jedda and Troy were raising their young family in country Victoria when she discovered a lump in her breast during Christmas holidays in 2005. She was diagnosed with breast cancer but resolved to fight it.

“Jedda fought it courageously for eight years,” Troy said this week from his home in Horsham, which is still a family base, even though his three sons all live in Queensland.

“During that time, she left no stone unturned in terms of trying to stay alive for her boys. She travelled to Germany and to Paris trying to find a cure, or trying to find something that was going to give her some longevity in her life.

“She did that for the boys.

“But unfortunately she passed away in 2013 (aged 45). But she never lost her sense of humour. She was always thinking of others and not wanting them to feel sad or sorry for her.

“She had a beautiful life and her legacy is her three boys.”

Troy said even when Jedda was ailing in the Horsham Hospital the local school kids would come in to visit as she had been a teacher.

The love and support of the community helped the Berry boys get through their loss.

That connection still burns for them, even though Jarrod has lived in Brisbane since being drafted in late 2016 (three years after his mum’s passing), Thomas now plays for the Gold Coast Suns and Joel lives in Noosa as a fly-in, fly-out electrician in the mines.

They come back to town whenever they can to see their dad and their mates, and Troy spends plenty of time travelling to see them as often as possible.

He rarely misses an AFL match that Jarrod or Thomas play in.

He says his sons helped him through the trauma of losing his wife as much as he helped them overcome the losing of their beloved mother.

Jarrod and Thomas Berry at the Gabba in 2020, before Thomas moved to Gold Coast. Picture: Annette Dew

“When I look back, I would probably say that the boys got us through a difficult time on our journey more than me as a father getting the boys through,” he said.

“They were incredible in what they did at their age and what they have all been able to achieve in their lives since.

“We have been able to turn what was a huge loss and a negative in our lives into a position where we celebrate the morals and standards that Jedda was able to instil in the boys.

“They have had to work through some really big things in their lives but they have stayed true to their character and we have been able to stick together and support each other as a family.

“We celebrate that legacy and we celebrate Jedda’s life pretty much every day.”

Jarrod and Thomas were this year short-listed as finalists in the AFL’s Jim Stynes Community Award for their work in raising money and awareness for Breast Cancer Awareness Network.

The three Berry brothers, along with some childhood friends, raised almost $80,000 for BCNA last November for running a “Marathon for Mum’ event in Horsham.

The same group organised a head shave fundraiser to mark the fifth anniversary of Jedda’s passing in 2018, with the combined events raising more than $140,000.

“They understand what’s important in life and at times footy comes second to life,” Troy said.

The Berry family will be back at the MCG on Saturday hoping for a very different outcome to last year as Jarrod chases a premiership medal he came so close to securing last year.

As one of the Lions’ most important players, he will have a big role to play in the grand final, knowing that his lessons from his mum and from last year’s experience have only strengthened him.

“Resilience has been built into (Brisbane’s) DNA since I got to the club, we’ve worked so hard,” said Berry, who signed a new five-year deal with the Lions earlier this year.

“We got the s--t kicked out of us early on (in his first few years), but they were able to get games into Hugh (McCluggage), myself, Eric (Hipwood), Cam (Rayner) and others. Now we’ve got these young kids coming through to make us even better and hopefully take us to glory.”