Print this pageThe last thing Matthew Bode wanted to do was quit while hating the game. That was a very real possibility if the then 28-year-old had retired after being delisted by the Crows 12 months ago.
Instead - after a season of enjoyment with his beloved Glenelg - Bode will have a feeling of satisfaction when he hangs up his boots at the end of the year.
"I seriously contemplated retiring after my career at Adelaide," Bode, now 29, revealed.
"But I always said I wanted to come back and finish my career at Glenelg. If I did retire then (last year) I would have been retiring hating the game.
"But 12 months on after coming back home I retire loving the game, having a real appreciation for everything the game's given me."
Bode's decision is difficult to comprehend given his injury-riddled body has finally come good in season 2008. If the left-footer has only missed two games due to a strained stomach muscle, then why is he calling an end to his 63-game SANFL career?
"It's been tough at work and still trying to perform at my best," said Bode, referring to his 5am starts running his personal training business, Lifestyles.
Bode - who started his off-field venture late last year - has also felt the pressure organising the Lifestyle Health and Fitness Expo at Wayville Showground next year. "It's been pretty hard just with my demands with work but I feel comfortable with what I've been able to achieve," Bode said.
"And I'm really excited about what lies ahead in the next six weeks."
With his Tigers guaranteed a top-three finals berth, Bode knows they're in an ideal position to win the club's fifth premiership.
It's something the blond bombshell has been dreaming of since he was a toddler.
"Ever since I walked through the (Glenelg Oval) gates as a four-year-old that's all I ever wanted, to play in a Glenelg premiership," said Bode, who refused to rule out remaining involved in some capacity at Brighton Rd.
"We have a great opportunity ahead of us and I just want to make the most of it. I started at Glenelg in 1998 and this is only my second finals series, so finals don't come around very often."
One feels Bode's team-mates will also want to make this finals series count.
Courtesy of The Advertiser
Story by Zac Milbank