Simon Madden

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Simon Madden
Personal information
Full name Simon Madden
Date of birth (1957-12-30) 30 December 1957 (age 65)
Original team(s) St Christopher's
Height 198 cm (6 ft 6 in)
Weight 99 kg (218 lb)
Position(s) Ruckman/Tall forward
Playing career1
YearsClubGames (Goals)
1974–1992 Essendon 378 (575)
Representative team honours
YearsTeamGames (Goals)
Victoria 17 (21)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1992.
Career highlights

Club

Representative

Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com
Simon Madden, former AFL player & Founder, Simon Madden Consulting Simon Madden.jpg
Simon Madden, former AFL player & Founder, Simon Madden Consulting

Simon Madden (born 30 December 1957) is a former Australian rules footballer who played his entire 19-season career with the Essendon Football Club from 1974 until 1992. Madden is one of the most decorated players in the club's history and widely regarded as one of the finest ruckmen to ever play the game. [1]

Contents

Early life

Madden was born in Melbourne; he attended primary school at St Christopher's in Airport West and had his secondary schooling at St. Bernard's College in Essendon, a school renowned for its sporting prowess. He then studied teaching at the Institute of Catholic Education[ citation needed ] (now the Australian Catholic University).

AFL career

In all, he played 378 senior matches, the second-most by any Essendon player (behind Dustin Fletcher), and sixth-most in league history (behind Michael Tuck, Kevin Bartlett, Brent Harvey, Robert Harvey, and Dustin Fletcher). [2] In addition to playing in the ruck, Madden was a handy part-time forward, kicking 575 goals in his career, a club record that stood until it was broken in 2003 by full-forward Matthew Lloyd.

Madden won four Essendon best and fairest awards (1977, 1979, 1983 and 1984) and captained the side in the 1980 and 1981 seasons. He played in the back-to-back premiership sides in 1984 and 1985, winning the Norm Smith Medal for best on ground in the 1985 Grand Final. In 1986, Madden rejected an unheard-of offer for a 3-year contract totalling $550,000 (~$1.54 million in 2021 terms) by the eccentric Geoffrey Edelsten on behalf of the Sydney Swans, instead choosing to remain with Essendon for his entire career. [3] Regarding the offer, Madden replied, "You can take the boy out of Essendon, but you can't take Essendon out of the boy." [4] However, Madden estimated that, in 2009 dollars (when he was interviewed) and taking into account the cost of buying a house, etc., it was actually the equivalent of $4.4 million over three years. However, Madden claimed that he never regretted the decision. [5]

He was named in the All-Australian Team on three occasions (1983, 1987 and 1988). Madden captained the Victorian interstate team in 1989–91, and in 1990 received the Simpson Medal for best on ground in the Victoria vs. Western Australia match played in Perth.

He was named in the ruck in Essendon's Team of the Century and named as the fifth-best player ever to play for the club in the "Champions of Essendon" list.

After his playing days were over, Madden had a brief stint as ruck coach for Carlton. He was with the Blues for the 1993 season, in which they made the grand final but lost to Madden's former club, Essendon.

He was president of the AFL Players' Association from 1985 until 1989.

His brother Justin was also a top-class ruckman for Essendon and Carlton, and they are the only set of brothers to each play 300 games at VFL/AFL level. Both brothers had their secondary schooling at St Bernard's College, Melbourne, a school renowned for its sporting prowess. The school is the only one to ever produce three 300-game players, with Simon and Justin Madden joining former Bomber Garry Foulds in this achievement.[ citation needed ]

Statistics

[6]
Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals  
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds  
  H  
 Handballs  
  M  
 Marks
H/O
 Hit-outs
  #  
Played in that season's 
premiership team
Led the league after finals only
SeasonTeamNo.GamesTotalsAverages (per game) Votes
GBKHDMTH/OGBKHDMTH/O
1974 Essendon 2761885286028—03.01.38.71.310.04.7—0.02
1975 Essendon 271937291381915759—291.91.67.71.18.73.3—4.80
1976 Essendon 272028181234316678—861.40.96.22.28.33.9—4.53
1977 Essendon 2720331123481315126—3781.70.611.74.115.86.3—19.925
1978 Essendon 2722402519972271138—3011.81.19.03.312.36.3—14.37
1979 Essendon 27233931220106326158—2631.71.39.64.614.26.9—11.43
1980 Essendon 2721452717695271111—2112.11.38.44.512.95.3—10.05
1981 Essendon 271936341356920489—2361.91.87.13.610.74.7—12.47
1982 Essendon 272149251427421692—2302.31.26.83.510.34.4—11.07
1983 Essendon 27262616235156391179—8121.00.69.06.015.06.9—31.222
1984 # Essendon 27242717177137314151—6991.10.77.45.713.16.3—29.114
1985 # Essendon 27201921163123286136—3221.01.18.26.214.36.8—16.111
1986 Essendon 27232511182112294114—3381.10.57.94.912.85.0—14.74
1987 Essendon 271494856515069122520.60.36.14.610.74.90.918.01
1988 Essendon 272231818395278138272571.40.48.34.312.66.31.211.716
1989 Essendon 2725331623981320138283501.30.69.63.212.85.51.114.03
1990 Essendon 2723301619562616116222251.30.78.52.911.35.01.09.84
1991 Essendon 2723421520371274122142091.80.78.83.111.95.30.69.15
1992 Essendon 27782391857213281.10.35.62.68.13.00.44.00
Career378575334312014914611206310652261.50.98.33.912.25.50.914.7139

Honours and achievements

Team

Individual

Life After AFL

Madden has an extended background in education and worked as a teacher for 15 years, attaining the position of Vice Principal. [7] [ better source needed ]

Madden was President of the AFL Players' Association from 1985 to 1989. [8] [ better source needed ]

Madden became head coach of St. Bernards Old Collegians Football Club in 2005.[ citation needed ]

He now spends a considerable amount of time in the classic rock band Better Late Than Never playing at local pubs and clubs with a group of long-term friends. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Essendon Football Club</span> Australian rules football club

The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers, is a professional Australian rules football club. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCracken family in their Ascot Vale home "Alisa", and while the exact date is unknown, it is generally accepted to have been in 1872. The club's first recorded game took place on 7 June 1873 against a Carlton Second 20. From 1878 until 1896, the club played in the Victorian Football Association, then joined seven other clubs in October 1896 to form the breakaway Victorian Football League. Headquartered at the Essendon Recreation Ground, known as Windy Hill, from 1922 to 2013, the club moved to The Hangar in near Tullamarine in late 2013 on land owned by the Melbourne Airport. The club currently plays its home games at either Docklands Stadium or the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Zach Merrett is the current club captain.

Justin Mark Madden is a former Australian rules footballer and state politician. He played for the Essendon Football Club and the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
After his retirement in 1997, Madden decided to enter Victorian politics, using the experience gained from his presidency of the AFL Players Association to run for candidacy as an Australian Labor Party member. He served in both the Victorian Legislative Assembly and Victorian Legislative Council before retiring from office in November 2014. Madden is also a registered architect in the State of Victoria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Watson</span> Australian rules footballer, born 1961

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dustin Fletcher</span> Australian rules footballer, born 1975

Dustin Fletcher is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played his entire 23-season career for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is widely acknowledged as one of the finest defenders in the history of the league.

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Paul Salmon is a former Australian rules footballer who played in the Australian Football League for Essendon and Hawthorn. Recruited from North Ringwood, Salmon had a prolific career, with many accolades such as being inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame, a two-time premiership player, seven-time leading goalkicker at Essendon, and the fourth-highest goalkicker for Essendon.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albert Thurgood</span> Australian rules footballer

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Garry Foulds is a former Australian rules footballer who played 300 games for the Essendon Football Club between 1974 and 1989. Described as "a ball magnet", Foulds spent the majority of his career playing on the wing or floating across the half-back line. He made his Victorian Football League (VFL) debut against Fitzroy in round 8 1974, after playing in the Essendon under–19s. He struggled to hold his place in the side before becoming a regular in 1977. Foulds was part of Essendon's Grand Final winning sides over Hawthorn in 1984 and 1985, along with playing in the 1983 Grand Final loss against the same opposition.

Paul Vander Haar is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

The 1984 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Essendon Football Club and Hawthorn Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 29 September 1984. It was the 88th annual grand final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1984 VFL season. The match, attended by 92,685 spectators, was won by Essendon by a margin of 24 points, marking that club's 13th premiership victory.

The 1985 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Essendon Football Club and Hawthorn Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 28 September 1985. It was the 89th annual grand final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1985 VFL season. The match, attended by 100,042 spectators, was won by Essendon by a margin of 78 points, marking that club's 14th premiership victory.

Steven Clark was an Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon, Melbourne and St Kilda in the Australian Football League (AFL), previously Victorian Football League (VFL).

Larry John Watson is a former Australian rules football player who played with Essendon and Fitzroy in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and West Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL).

Colin G. Boyd is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Footscray and Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1970s.

David Johnston is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon and Fitzroy in the Victorian/Australian Football League (VFL/AFL).

Trevor Spencer is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club, Melbourne Football Club and Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Gareth John is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the Sydney Swans and North Melbourne in the Australian Football League (AFL).

References

  1. ↑ "Champions of Essendon Simon Madden". essendonfc.com.au. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  2. ↑ "AFL Tables - All Time Records - Most Career Games". afltables.com. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  3. ↑ Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2002). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: every AFL/VFL player since 1897 (4th ed.). Melbourne, Victoria: Crown Content. p. 397. ISBN   1-74095-001-1 .
  4. ↑ "Past Player Profiles - M - essendonfc.com.au". Archived from the original on 30 March 2017.
  5. ↑ Niall, Jake (8 December 2009). "Should I stay or should I go?". The Age. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  6. ↑ "Simon Madden". AFL Tables.
  7. ↑ "About Simon". Simon Madden. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  8. ↑ "About Simon". Simon Madden. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  9. ↑ "Big Bomber still kicking goals". Sportshounds. 19 December 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
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