A tight-knit country football community is mourning the devastating loss of one of its own after 25-year-old footballer Jed Griffin died in a tragic accident at his club’s home ground.
Griffin, a much-loved player with the Osborne Tigers in southern NSW, died at the Osborne Recreation Reserve on Sunday afternoon, just one day after taking the field for his club in the Hume Football Netball League grand final.
Police say Griffin was being towed by an unregistered quad bike when he struck a goalpost. Bystanders desperately tried to help before emergency services arrived, but he died at the scene.
The sudden loss has sent shockwaves through the Riverina football community, where Griffin was known not only as a fierce competitor but as a loyal teammate, friend and family man whose cheeky smile rarely seemed far away.
His coach of three years, Myles Aalbers, described him as one of the finest footballers he had seen and someone who attacked the contest without fear.
“He was one of the fiercest competitors I’ve coached with in my time in football,” Aalbers said.
But it is Griffin the person, rather than the footballer, who those closest to him are remembering most.
“Every time I would see him, he would just have that cheeky smile … I’ll never forget that about Jed,” Aalbers said.
“He loved his mates, he loved his outdoor fishing and hunting, and the people close to him.”
Griffin was a dual senior premiership player with Osborne and his devotion to the club ran deep. Aalbers said the 25-year-old would drive past several other football clubs simply to get to Osborne for training and matches – a small detail that spoke volumes about where his loyalties lay.
That connection extended to his family, with parents Terry and Nicole and sister Darby also deeply involved in the club. Tributes have also acknowledged Griffin’s partner, Sophie, as friends and sporting clubs rally around those closest to him.
The tragedy is made even more heartbreaking by its timing. Only the day before his death, Griffin had pulled on the Osborne jumper for the club’s senior grand final against Henty. Osborne lost the premiership decider by just six points. It would prove to be Griffin’s final game.
In the days since, rivalries have been put aside as football and netball clubs across the region have surrounded Osborne with messages of love and support.
Henty Football Netball Club, the side Griffin played against in that final match, sent its condolences to his family and the entire Osborne community.
“Two teams, one league, one united community of people. We are here for you all,” the club said.
Corowa Rutherglen Football Netball Club, where Griffin had played junior and senior football, remembered him as a “spirited young man who was loved by so many” and said his death had left an enormous hole in the hearts of those who knew him.
The Coreen Daysdale Hopefield Buraja Football Netball Club perhaps summed up the particular heartbreak felt across country sport, where clubs are often far more than somewhere people gather on a Saturday afternoon.
“They are family. They are where we grow up, where lifelong friendships are formed, where families come together and where we stand beside one another through the very best and the very hardest of times,” the club said.
Aalbers said Osborne’s players were now simply trying to stay close and support one another through an unimaginable loss.
“We don’t know what the steps forward are, but we are just trying to keep the group together and be there for each other.”
A 20-year-old man alleged to have been driving the quad bike has been charged with dangerous driving occasioning death, driving in a dangerous manner and negligent driving occasioning death. He appeared briefly in Wagga Wagga Local Court on Wednesday, where his bail was extended and the matter adjourned until November.
For those who knew Griffin, however, the lasting memories will be of football, fishing, friendship and that unmistakable grin.
“Today, we want to acknowledge the life of Jed,” Corowa Rutherglen Football Netball Club said.
“Vale Jed.”
