A CHANCE meeting in a pub has led Wedderburn’s star ruckman Jordan Hargreaves to make the shock move to North Bendigo in the Heathcote District Football League.
The departure of Hargreaves, who won the North Central league’s Feeny Medal for the best-and-fairest player in 2021 and played more than 250 games for the club, will leave a huge hole in the Redbacks’ onball division.
Hargreaves, 29, was awarded Wedderburn’s best player in finals award this season as the Redbacks made it through to the preliminary final, and finished as their second-highest vote getter in the 2024 Feeny Medal.
“I was thinking about it for a fair while before making the call,” Hargreaves told the Loddon Herald of his move.
“I was due for a bit of a change.”
After playing for Wedderburn all through his career apart from a stint with Bendigo Pioneers in Victoria’s elite under-18 league, Hargreaves said it was a hard decision to leave the Redbacks.
“At the same time, you have to try new things now and then.”
The Pioneers connection was what finalised his decision to move on.
“I know the North Bendigo coach Rob Bennett from Pioneer days, and I ran into him at the pub and had a bit of a chat with him,” Hargreaves said.
“That helped me narrow down where I was going to go.”
Living in Bendigo, but still working in Wedderburn, Hargreaves said it was too much to keep commuting for football training and matches as well.
“North Bendigo also offered me an assistant coaching role, which I think would be a really good opportunity as I’d like to coach one day. It was the right place at the right time.”
Hargreaves’ call was made easier by talking to Wedderburn teammates who had played elsewhere and advised him that changing clubs could freshen up his career.
His fiancé, Redbacks netball star Courtney Gleeson, is planning to take a year off from the sport.
Wedderburn coach Tom Metherell said he had been aware that Hargreaves was contemplating leaving the club.
“We had been speaking about it since a couple of weeks before our season ended,” he said. “We had a good chat, and I understand where he was coming from.”
Metherell said Hargreaves would be missed, but his departure would create opportunities for others.
“We have a few ruckmen we have been talking to, so hopefully something comes from that.”
North Bendigo finished second on the ladder this season but bowed out in the preliminary final.