A runner-up in the Ovens and Murray Morris Medal to official league 'legend' Rob Walker and a Goulburn Valley Morrison medallist, Sutherland was blunt when asked what he was like as a youngster.

"I was crap," he dead-panned.

"I spent a lot of time on the bench and even running the boundary, but I just loved playing footy."

And, most importantly, Sutherland wanted to get better.

He launched himself into becoming the absolute best he could. Trained as hard as any 'non-professional' realistically could.

In his first two years of open-age footy with Shepparton Swans in 1991-92, he played mostly seniors, mixed with a bit of reserves.

He won a best and fairest at Nathalia over the following two years and finished runner-up twice in the Swans' top award in his second stint there.

That's when Yarrawonga came calling.

"I did Year 12, but failed, and I had a few jobs after that and one of them was delivering bread to Yarrawonga," the man known as 'Suddsy' recalled.

"Glenn Brear (long-time Yarrawonga president) and Terry Brear had the milk truck and we'd often see each other on our runs. I would leave a packet of coffee scrolls on the driver's seat of the milk truck and when I'd get back in my truck, there would be a Big M (drink). If it was a big, Big M, I knew Terry would have given it, but if it was a little, Big M, it would have been 'Wally' (Glenn) (laughs loudly).

"I always thought Glenn was a grumpy old p***k, but as I got to know him I've just got so much respect for the guy, champion fellow."

So the 193cm, 105kg ruckman lobbed at the Pigeons in 1998, but something wasn't right. He couldn't shake a groin injury. A visit to North Melbourne's doctor discovered a hernia.

"He had the op during that pre-season (January) and did 'stuff all' pre-season, but he didn't miss a game," Glenn Brear said.

"To play with the pain and the hardship of that just showed what a terrific fellow he was."

During a fabulous four-year stint, Sutherland would stun the club with his commitment.

"There were nights we'd say, 'have the night off Jarrod', there would be a recovery session and he'd drive all the way from Shepparton (which is one hour) and train and it might be only half an hour, but he'd rock up, do the session and get back in the car," Yarrawonga captain (2000-2003) Leigh Ramsdale said.

President Brear was starting to question his recruit.

"I remember Glenn saying that I might either be a bit of fruit loop (strange) or just a great clubman," Sutherland laughed.

The crafty Brear was right the second time.

"I was taught that level of commitment was the right thing to do, you get out what you put in, you don't want to be seen as someone who just plays," he said earnestly.

Still, it wasn't a great start in Sutherland's first year.

The club suffered a 247-point hiding to premiers Albury early in the season.

"I remember the reserves got beaten by a similar amount and I thought, 'wow, that's nasty' and we go out there and it just seemed to keep going over your head," he explained.

"And the crowd gave it to me the whole time, there'd be some old guy sitting on the hill, he always gave me a hard time, but not just me, it was everyone."

Former North Melbourne premiership player Peter Chisnall parted ways with the club after that and the Pigeons were at their lowest ebb.

It remains the second biggest loss in the O and M's 127-year history, trailing only Corowa's 267-point loss to Albury in 1928.

The Pigeons' loss was the start of a 20-year rivalry with Albury. Generally, there's three instances where a rivalry is born - a grand final loss, a massive fight or an embarrassing defeat.

The Pigeons and Tigers had them all.

Sutherland was reported twice against Albury.

He received a reprimand for striking Tim Scott in 1998, ruling him ineligible for the Morris Medal, where he posted the second highest number of votes (16) to Myrtleford's Mark Lambertini (18).

The second time he took on the league's hardest man - Tiger enforcer Jeremy Masterson.

"I was resting up forward and the ball came down, he was playing on me and I was out the back and the ball went over our heads and I got my hands on the ball and he sort of poked me in the eye, whether he meant it or not, I felt he did, but he might say he didn't," Sutherland offered.

"We had a bit of shove and I gave him one and I got sent off. We were leading at the time, but were then one man down and lost. I know it was our ball that night and while not a lot was said, I could tell a few people weren't that impressed by me."

Sutherland and Masterson had played together at representative level and the big man even rang his opponent to apologise.

"I probably wished I hadn't done it because it didn't change anything other than us losing the game and I missed a couple of weeks, I do regret it for sure," he said of the incident.

The Pigeons and Tigers also had a famous melee during one of the breaks in the finals of that 2000 season, with a biting charge creating enormous angst between the clubs, although Sutherland wasn't involved.

Still, he had shown in his battle with 'Jezza' he would never take a backward step. The sort of player the opposition hated playing against, while his team-mates loved him.

"Don't worry that common call in footy when they say you walk taller when so and so plays, everyone in the opposition would have been running a bit shorter," Brear said.

And Sutherland took pride in having his mates' backs.

"It was about adding more value to the team, not just about how many kicks you got, but also looking after your team-mates," he said.

Sutherland also had a long memory, although not all the Tigers' fans knew what the hell he was doing after their round 16 clash in 2001.

It was to be the last time Sutherland faced the Tigers and when the Pigeons humbled Albury, he let loose, taking his jumper off and running around the boundary line.

"I was yelling and letting them know that I was pretty happy we'd won, it was probably more pointed at the crowd that had been giving me a hard time," he said.

To highlight his work ethic, Sutherland had started his own business - Quicklift Crane Hire - in 1998 and, somehow, managed to run the business and play top footy an hour away.

"He was probably one of the best recruits, if not the best 'Yarra's' ever had, and that's not all on the footy field, it was his commitment to the club," Ramsdale praised.

Given the Pigeons high-profile recruits in the past 20 years, including Brendan Fevola's 'Fevolution', it's an amazing compliment.

"He was a straight line footballer, It didn't matter if it was an eight-tonne truck or a little motorbike, he'd still run straight lines," Brear said proudly.

"They say Bob Craig was the heart and soul of Wodonga and there's certain players in every club that everyone just loves.

"When Jarrod played at 'Yarra', he was the heart and soul and people followed him."

IN OTHER NEWS

Sutherland claimed the GV's Morrison Medal in 2002, retiring at 38. Now 48, he's the Shepparton Swans' president.

Not bad for a "crap" kid.

"Kids don't realise it, but it just comes back to hard work and passion and desperation to improve," he said.

"If anyone is passionate about improving themselves and are willing to do whatever it takes, you will get better."