IT SOUNDS strange, but Jarrod Twitt couldn’t be happier about the fact Wodonga doesn’t need him any more.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
After 177 matches, five seasons as coach, two best and fairests and one premiership at John Flower Oval, Twitt will call time on a glittering career in maroon and white.
It will be the second time Twitt has departed Wodonga, after four seasons coaching Holbrook from 2011-14, but this time it’s final.
His work his done.
On Saturday, he will play a farewell match when the Bulldogs host Wangaratta as Wodonga celebrates 80 years in the Ovens and Murray.
After first joining Wodonga in 2002, following a 71-game stint with Sturt in the SANFL, Twitt returned to the Bulldogs in 2015 to provide leadership to Dean Harding’s inexperienced list.
It will be just his third match for the season after calf and knee injuries have dogged the 37-year-old but he said the fact Wodonga was just two points outside the top five and a sneaky finals chance showed the club was on the right track.
“They don’t need me on the field now,” he said.
“I’ll be forever grateful to ‘Hards’ and the whole club for giving me this weekend.
“I was really strong on it being me saying thank you back to the club and it not being the other way around.”
Twitt joined the Bulldogs as a three-time premiership player at his home club, Wagga Tigers, but said Wodonga “ is what I consider my footy club”.
The Bulldogs only narrowly avoided the wooden spoon in Twitt’s first season at the club before building into a powerhouse that lost just one match on its way to the 2004 flag.
“I spoke to the boys on Tuesday night, at that time we didn’t realise what era we were about to go into,” he said.
“It’s so similar to this group at the moment.
“I just have so much respect for ‘Goof’ (Matt Seiter), ‘Porky’ (Jackson Russell), Sammy Maher, Timmy Kindellan and ‘Chief’ (McKye Turner) – they’ve seen our footy club through probably the most difficult era that it’s had.
“They’re on the back end now and I really think they’ve got some exciting times ahead.”
In a show of the old and the new, Twitt presented debutant Harry Jones with his jumper on Tuesday night.
“He has put his stamp on our club and influenced us all in the way we approach our footy and as always he will lead from the front, give his all and do whatever he can to help us have a great day,” Harding said of Twitt.
“He leaves a lasting legacy at our footy club built around an enormous work ethic, unquestioned courage and unwavering commitment to his teammates.”