Tuffey stunned the association when he signed with the Panthers in August, 2017, moving to the region with his young family later that year.

"My family's the biggest reason (why I'm retiring), I've got two young kids growing and I've had a good run with cricket," he said.

"I'm happy that the body's allowed me to play for the last couple of years.

"Ideally I've love to bow out with a couple of wins on Saturday and Sunday, that would be the fairytale ending."

Tuffey played 26 Tests for the Kiwis, snaring 77 wickets, along with 92 scalps in his 94 one-day internationals.

He boasts the wickets of all-time greats Jacques Kallis, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid.

The 40-year-old has made a stunning impact in CAW.

He's one of the most popular players, willing to help anyone who asks for assistance.

Then New City captain Steve McLennan said 12 months ago he was a "total gentleman".

The veteran McLennan also described the tall right-arm paceman as part of the best pace attack of the past 25 years.

Interestingly, Tuffey has taken only 36 wickets at 17 in his 37 games, including a best of 4-16 against Wodonga Raiders last season.

However, the Panthers maintain they've never seen a bowler who forces so many plays and misses.

"That's the way it goes, I'm really happy with the way I'm bowling, but the thing I stress to our guys is bowling in partnerships," he said.

"I like to be the guy that gets five wickets, but (opening bowlers) Dave Tassell and Ryan Brown, they're the blokes that get the bulk of the wickets, and Micky Galvin, he goes under the radar, he's been fantastic for us."

When Tuffey arrived, he was going to play only a handful of games, but enjoyed it so much, he became a full-time player.

"Lavington's a great bunch of guys, I've been lucky the team was on the brink of success and they've matured," he said.

"You saw that on Sunday with the young guys (Matt Tom and Brad Dalbosco) stepping up in pressure situations, that's all you can ask really."

Tuffey will continue to coach the rep side and also pursue private coaching.