Thought he had the makings to be an excellent AFL umpire, however he's retired to assist in caring for his brother.
Patrick Keane: Congrats @JordanBannister on his time as an AFL ump, now that he's stepping into retirement for work & to care for his brother. A good man.
If you're unaware about his brother Rick's situation, here is a post Jordan made in April
I umpired last week's Melbourne-GWS game in a fog, a blur. Instead of being filled with adrenalin at running out on the MCG, I felt weak, tired and burdened by an overwhelming sense of sadness.
Five days earlier, I'd been told while I was in New York on a business trip that my older brother Rick had been thrown from his horse and had broken his neck.
I was asleep in my hotel at 3am when the call came from one of my four brothers, Corey. He told me Ricky was in a coma and likely to be a quadriplegic. My world instantly came crashing down; I felt helpless and couldn't have felt further away from my family.
The next 30 hours were spent in transit as I desperately tried to get back to Australia, and the Austin Hospital in Melbourne.
I haven't cried in my mum's arms since primary school yet seeing her distraught face on my arrival at the hospital broke me. My eldest brother Shaun took it the hardest. He didn't speak to anybody for the first five days and literally had to be dragged out of the waiting room when visiting hours closed.
Only weeks earlier, I was sitting at my Mum's house having dinner with Rick, who's 38 and fit: he's a former boxer and was once the Victorian amateur champion. But he gave it all away to play football with his brothers.
He and his wife, Emily, live on a farm in Kilmore and he's always been a horse enthusiast. They are expecting their first child in September.
Rick's first seven nights after the accident were spent in Intensive Care on life support. Unable to speak, eat, drink, breathe by himself, he has relied totally on the nursing staff and his family.
My brothers and I took it in turns staying by his side through the night, rubbing ice-cubes over his face as Rick had come down with a fever.
We begged the nurses to let us stay overnight because that's what brothers do. We couldn't leave him in there alone. I couldn't have been more tired and exhausted each night. I felt like crying every second in there but had to literally battle to keep the tears in for his sake.
He woke up every now and then, aggressively and in a panic, so I would pat his head and talk him to relax and rest.
It's so hard seeing the brother who protected me as a kid so vulnerable with countless tubes coming in and out of his body. Twelve days ago, he was a strong, fit man looking forward to his first born baby due in September. Now, he's fighting to stay alive.
I just wish I could trade places with him and take all his pain away. I would take his place in a second.
We are able to lip read and use a white board to spell words he is trying to say. I spelt out a line on the third night that read: "don't leave me, I love you". I literally can't put into words what reading that line did to me.
Every night I'm in with Rick, tears want to explode out of me but I have to remain strong for him and keep him fighting.
Both my mum and dad have barely spent an hour away from the hospital.
Family was everything to me before. But that statement couldn't beat any stronger for me now after experiencing the past 12 days.
I won't forget the support I've had from the AFL umpiring department and the umpires themselves. Jeff Gieschen and Rowan Sawers appointed me to the Melbourne v GWS game in Round 4 but allowed me to make the decision if I wanted to umpire. Ricky nodded his head when I told him about the game and urged me to umpire.
I woke up that Sunday morning before the game. It was the first time I'd slept more than two hours in a row all week. As I say, I felt weak, tired and sad ... but how can you not be motivated by your brother fighting like a bull to stay alive?
I spoke to Setanta O'hAilpin the day before the game about it as he knows Ricky; I lived with Ricky for two years while I was at Carlton and Setanta was my teammate. Setanta hugged me in the rooms when he saw me.
I haven't told many people about what's happened - only a few Carlton players such as Andrew Walker. Since then, Carlton doctors, fitness staff, coaches and players have been in contact with me.
I thought about Rick for the whole game. Every time I was tired or down, I'd picture his determination in his eyes and it pulled me through. I had a trigger in the game that whenever I thought of Ricky, I said to myself the word 'concentrate'.
That really helped.
I umpired the game with Dean Margetts and David Harris. I can't explain how much those guys helped me. In particular Dean: his compassion and advice was amazing.
Later, I reviewed that Melbourne-GWS game with Rick on my computer. He nodded and shook his head whenever he thought I got a decision right or wrong. He's recovering from an experience that no words can describe yet has the strength and cheek to inform me of my errors. Just what I expect from my older bro'.
This weekend, I've got Brisbane against Melbourne at the Gabba on Sunday; Rick will be watching on his ipad. And I will have to stay strong for him again.
Rick has since moved out of intensive care into the recovery unit at the Austin Hospital. Visiting hours at the new unit are from 11am to 8pm so I'm sleeping more at night this week. But I wake up from time to time during the night in tears as I just think of him lying there alone.
My girlfriend Natalie has been so strong and supportive. I'd be lost without her support and the support of her entire family.
The staff at the Austin have been first class. They are caring, hard working and save lives every day.
We have been told Ricky will be a quadriplegic. Ricky has a C4-C5 complete spinal injury. It's fairly common that people suffering that injury have bicep and shoulder movement. He currently has no wrist or hand movement. He also has no feeling below his chest. We are currently looking into stem cell therapies in the USA and India. We won't ever give up on him in any way.
Rick now has some limited range of movement in his arms and will most likely be breathing by himself in a week's time. We are all hopeful he will regain the use of his hands in time to hold his first-born son in September.
He truly is an inspiration to me.