This weekend one of the Demon’s favourite ‘nude nuts’, Trent ‘T Rod’ Roddan, plays his 100 th open-age game for the Pennant Hills Demons.

It’s taken until his 11 th season, but T Rod has at last made it to his 100 game milestone!

Before trying his hand at Aussie Rules Trent had been a soccer player for more than 30 years and has more than 300 senior games to his credit, before a ‘dicky knee’ forced him to give it away.

His introduction to Aussie Rules came through his family’s passion for the Sydney Swans and more particularly through the involvement of his cousin Stevie Wray and his uncle Bob at the Pennant Hills football club.

Trent says that he “… came to AFL after Sting had a bad pushbike injury and we started rehab training together and I found that the kicking action in AFL didn’t cause me any knee pain. I then started helping out at Westbrook as assistant coach / runner for U16’s in 2008 and 2009, also started helping out as an assistant coach at Penno in 2009 for U18/19’s for 6 years, before becoming head coach of U19s from 2016 to 2018.” Then last season, in 2019, Trent accepted the role as the Club’s Director of Coaching and Chairman of Selectors.

As to his time as an Aussie Rules player, Trent joined the Club in 2010, aged 36, started playing in the third grade side (Division 3) at BISP 1 versus Campbelltown, just to see how he would go? Trent says he “… scored 2 goals and got BOG”! Two more games in 3rd grade and he’d earned a spot in the Reserves (Division One) side.

In his second season, 2011, he was joint R/U B&F with Daniel ‘Flea’ Keating, in Reserve Grade.

An ankle injury restricted his participation in 2012. From 2013 to the present he has played most of his footy in the thirds and lower grades and at the same time he has been concentrating on developing his coaching skills. In 2013, he was a member of the 3 rd grade premiership side which won the Division Four competition that year. He was also assistant coach (understudy to David Pinker) of the U18 Division One premiership team in the same year.

So, it was the family connection at the Club that brought Trent into the Demons fold after getting a taste of the footy scene coaching at Westbrook. He says his decision to pull on the boots was because “… cousin Stephen and Tommy Edmonds said they wouldn’t listen to me any more until I had actually played a game. So, the only reason I started playing was to shut them up, but I loved it so much that I just kept playing.”

Outside of the Demons, Trent was involved with the Giants Academy for 4 years. Working with Mark McVeigh at Giants Academy in 2014 which was a great learning experience.

He was also involved with the NSW/ACT Rams working alongside Darren Denneman and former Swans , Tadhg Kennelly and Jason Saddington, which was another great learning experience in coaching and player development.

In addition to his playing and coaching roles, Trent has been a regular member of the Club’s Committee for many years and has made a major contribution off-field through the management and ongoing development of the Club’s digital presence, such as the web site and Athlete Tracker online application.

Trent is a loyal and passionate Demon and says that it has become his life; ‘ … well it’s taken over my Life at least!. It feels like forever that I have been playing, coaching and on the committee. Penno is a great club to be involved with and has great people both on and off the field.’

On behalf of everyone at Pennant Hills we wish T Rod the best of luck for his 100 game milestone match and congratulate him on this magnificent achievement!

Go Penno!
Written & compiled by John Acheson for PHAFC, Saturday 18 July 2020

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

Games Played
Open-age 100 (2010 – 2020) 11 seasons, 35 Reserve Grade, 45 Third Grade, 20 Lower Grade

Premierships
Division Four (Third Grade) 2013

Awards
Division One (Reserve Grade) – R/U Best & Fairest (joint R/U with Daniel Keating) 2011

Previous Football
30 + Years of soccer/300 + games

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS

1. Division Four Grand Final 2013 – Blacktown ISP – 14 September 2013
Pennant Hills 14.11-95 defeated Sydney University 4.4-28
Evan Danilo Best on Ground in GF

2. Under 18 Division One Grand Final 2013 – Blacktown ISP – 21 September 2013
Pennant Hills 10.10-70 defeated UNSW/ES Bulldogs 10.7-67
Daniel Preen 5 goals & Best on Ground in GF
Trent Roddan – Assistant Coach

3. Division Three Qualifying Final 2018 – Rosedale Park – 25 August 2018
Pennant Hills 5.9-39 lost to Macquarie University 7.9-51
Trent Roddan 4 goals