Ben Todd: Northies veteran says his wife Jennifer is a 'driving force' in his career

For it is Jennifer who encourages Todd to keep playing each season, even though he is on the cusp of his 42nd birthday and debuted in first grade some 25 years ago.

So when, as expected, he laces up next season, his wife will have again worked her special kind of magic.

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"She's a wonderful woman; a very supportive woman," he said.

"She's the one who pushes me every year to play. I'm the one who goes, 'Nah, I'm too old.'"

Jennifer, Todd said, "loves" watching him play and understood that he used soccer as an outlet to release "frustrations".

"She's a big driving force, and has been for many years," he added.

They met some two decades ago at the home of Todd's then Northies coach Andrew "Norm" McFarlane, and were married in 2007.

"She walked into his house while we were having a drink and a punt ... I just sorta gazed at her."

He added: "Normy rang me a couple days later and said, 'Remember that blonde? She saw you and she wants to talk to you. She wants your number' ... I just rang her, and that's where it all began."

The couple now have four children.

Todd said McFarlane was one of his best mates and was godfather to his son Jack. McFarlane coached Northies to titles in 2001, 2004 and 2007, with Todd captain in 2007.

"He lives in Harrington now," Todd said. "But I talk to him every day, pretty much."

If you have not worked it out already, Todd sticks. North Companions: stick (he began playing for the club in under-12s). Marriage: stick. Work: stick (the graphic designer has been at Edwards Printing for 23 years).

Born in Tamworth and an Oxley High alumnus, Todd coaches the North Companions juniors sides that three of his children play in: under-7s (Noah), under-13s (Jack) and under-16s (Kayla). The Todds' eldest child is 21-year-old Anna.

Todd also captained Northies when they won their last premiership, in 2017, which broke a 10-year premiership drought.

There have been no more titles since then. Todd said the loss of players and coach Gavin Thompson following the 2017 triumph hit Northies hard. Thompson was back in charge this year, as Northies finished the COVID-shortened season in third place.

At the start of this season, Todd said a group of senior players and Thompson met to discuss how they could "get the club back on track".

'That's all we were trying to do this year, just get the club, the team morale and the spirit back," he said. "And we achieved that fairly early in the piece, I thought.

"And whatever comes, whatever results [come], is just a bonus. At the end of the day, we were still very competitive. But we weren't there to win comps: we were there to get the club back on track."

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