BIO
Ben Jefferies was a hard-working defensive wingman who played in Norwood’s 2012-2013-2014 premiership trifecta and won the club’s best and fairest award in 2013. Not bad for an Adelaide Hills kid who was spurred on by the words of his senior coach, Nathan Bassett: “You are great at nothing, but good at everything.”
Known as ‘Joff’ or ‘Joffa’, Ben was a consummate clubman who chalked up 248 Norwood games across four grades. Norwood CEO Geoff Baynes used to pop the question: ”Who has won two grand finals and a best and fairest before playing 50 games?” Yes, Ben Jefferies.
Born to Steve and Lyn Jefferies at Stirling on 10 August 1990, Ben played as a junior with the Onkaparinga Valley Football Club. Zoned to Norwood, he started playing under 13s and kept going. He was Norwood’s best and fairest in the under 17s in 2007. In 1907-08 he played 34 games with 10 goals in the under 17s and 14 games with four goals in the under 19s. He also played 68 reserves games in 2009 and 2011-18, mainly as a backman but picking up 20 goals along the way.
Ben made his league debut with Mitch Gregg in Norwood’s last game of season 2009. Jarrod Cotton was caretaker coach. “We beat Centrals by a goal and they went on to win the flag,” Ben recalls.
He won the best and fairest award in 2013, he says, “due to being a consistent player and playing every game. We had a lot of better players. For example, Matt Thomas won the Magarey that year”.
Ben was wearing the No 28 guernsey of John Wynne when he reached 100 league games in 2017 and was chuffed when the great man rang to congratulate him.
Ben was tempted to stay on for another year after Norwood’s disappointing grand final loss to North Adelaide in 2018 but instead went back to the Onkas for five years, joining his brother Tom and serving as player-coach for one year.
Ben says that in his teens he was better at basketball than football and played state basketball in the same team as Crows legend Tex Walker. Ben also played volleyball at school and water-skied during the summer. His wife Sarah Grills was a prominent polocrosse player.
B. Jefferies with P. Robins, D. Cox, G. Adams, M. Ashwood March 2025