MADDEN, Simon

Simon Madden was one of football's greatest ruckmen and one of Essendon's most decorated players. He came to Essendon in 1974 at the age of 16 from St Christopher's and became the Club's longest serving player until his record was broken by Dustin Fletcher. He is still sixth on the League list of games played.

His arrival at Essendon was almost accidental. Then-Essendon coach, Des Tuddenham, had visited the Madden home to convince Paul, the eldest of the three boys, to continue at Essendon. He had been a promising Under 19s player but gave up football to pursue his rock 'n' roll dream. Paul stuck by his decision so Tuddenham turned casually to 16-year-old Simon and said "Maybe the second brother wants to come down and try out, then". He did and the rest is history.

Madden played in the last six games in 1974, slotting into the team as a forward pocket and relief ruckman and delighted fans with his big marking and goalkicking. He kicked 18 goals and won the Best First Year Player award. In a unique double, he also won the Reserves Best First Year Player in 1974.

Madden was only 22 when he was made captain of Essendon in 1980, replacing Ken Fletcher. He had been vice-captain in 1979. A succession of injuries and illness sapped his strength and stamina in his first year as skipper and after a disappointing year in 1981 he was replaced as captain.

His career was at a low ebb at this stage and in early 1982 he even found himself on the interchange bench in the Reserves while his brother Justin took his ruck spot. But he quickly bounced back and his comeback was completed when he had a superb year in 1983 after Justin had transferred to Carlton.

Madden won Essendon's Best and Fairest award in 1977, 1979, 1983 and 1984 and finished third in the award in 1978. At the time, only Dick Reynolds and Bill Hutchison had won the award more often.

He had a frustrating season in 1987, missing the first eight games with a knee injury, but he still won the Best Team Man award for that year.

Madden was a prolific goalkicker for a ruckman and was the Club's leading goalkicker in 1980 with 45 goals and in 1982 with 49 goals. He was second top in 1977, 1979 and 1981 and third top in 1976 and 1978. He kicked eight goals in a game in 1980 and in 1982. He also kicked seven goals twice in 1981. He holds the Essendon record for most goals kicked in Round 20 of a League season with six in 1974.

He was also a prolific Brownlow Medal vote-winner, particularly for someone who didn't win one. He polled 139 Brownlow Medal votes in his career and finished third in the medal in 1983 with 22 votes and was also Essendon's top vote scorer in 1977 with 24 votes and in 1984 with 14 votes. He finished equal second at Essendon in 1978 and third in 1980 and 1985 (equal).

Madden was in the ruck in the 1984 premiership team and he won the Norm Smith Medal for being best on ground in the 1985 premiership victory. He played in a total of 13 finals games, including two premierships.

Madden was captain of the 1981 night premiership team and was in the ruck in the 1984 night premiership team. He had difficulty adjusting to night conditions because he wore contact lenses.

He was also a regular Victorian representative, and was chosen in the interstate team in 1977, 1978, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1991. He was Victorian captain in 1989, 1990 and 1991.

Madden was chosen in the All-Australian team in 1983, 1984 and 1987. He was also selected in the ruck in The Sun All Star team in 1983 and 1984 and won the Sunday Observer Footballer of the Year award in 1983. As well, he was in the ruck in the Inside Football Team of the Year in 1983, 1984, 1985 and 1986.

His reputation as the best ruckman in Australia was emphasised when he knocked back a $500,000 offer to join the Sydney Swans in 1986. At the time he said "You can take the boy out of Essendon, but you can't take Essendon out of the boy".

He went past Dick Reynolds' long-standing games record when he played his 321st game in August 1989. He went on to break John Coleman's record of 537 goals in Round 7, 1991, but it took him 355 games whereas Coleman brought up his record in just 48. However, few, if any, VFL/AFL ruckmen have been such prolific scorers.

When Madden retired in 1992 he had the distinction of holding the twin Club records of 378 games and 575 goals. Both have since been passed by Dustin Fletcher (400 games) and Matthew Lloyd (926 goals).

He was depicted as "Courage" in the Spirit to Win in the mural at Windy Hill.

In an interesting piece of trivia, there were two games in 1988 when five ex-St Bernard's boys played together: Madden, Paul Hamilton, David Johnston, Garry Foulds and Gavin Keane. The games were Round 9 v Brisbane Bears, and Round 10 v Sydney, for a win and a loss respectively. St Bernard's is the only school to have produced three 300+ games players: Simon Madden, Justin Madden and Garry Foulds.

He was president of the VFL Players' Association from 1985 to 1989 and made a life member in recognition of his long involvement. The AFLPA Madden Medal recognises the outstanding contribution which AFL Players make to football, family and the community.

He joined the Board in 2014 and served as Director until 2022 when he resigned as a protest to the Club's sacking of coach, Ben Ruttan.

Madden spent many years as a teacher, but after retiring from football he undertook several specialist coaching roles, including head coach at his old school, St Bernard's College. In 2023, he went into business and now runs Simon Madden Consulting which helps organisations attain best practice in business and people management.

His standing at the Club was confirmed when he was named at number 5 in the Champions of Essendon (2002) and was an inaugural Hall of Fame Legend. He was also named in the Team of the Century. He is also a member of the Australian Football Hall of Fame. He was named in the VFL Team of the Year in 1983, 1984, 1987, 1988, 1989 and 1990. He was awarded VFL Life membership in 1988.

His brother, Justin, played 45 games for Essendon and 287 for Carlton. Their brother, Paul, was a talented Under 19s player, but was not interested in a senior career.