Madgen waits his turn
DEB MADGEN has a distinct memory of her son Jack – now a rookie Collingwood defender after being a development player with the Cairns Taipans – from his childhood in South Australia’s Barossa region.
Jack was the youngest of her and husband Gene’s four children (Carly, Ben and Tess their others) and his older siblings excelled at sport.
“When Jack was very little – under five – he was on the road a lot while we took the older ones to sport,” Deb says.
“Gene would go one way with Ben and me a three-hour return trip for Carly’s softball.
“I asked him when he was older if he remembered those trips fondly; his reply was an emphatic ‘No’!”
Ah, the luck of the last born sibling: ferried about fulfilling the sporting dreams of his parents’ older progeny.
But, says school principal Deb, Jack may not have particularly liked those long, back-seat car trips, but they sure helped to mould him into the resilient, determined, hardworking footballer that has emerged during his first season with the Magpies.
Making his AFL debut against Sydney on August 4, Madgen played four straight games for Collingwood in the minor rounds, before being dropped to the emergency list when the likes of Jeremy Howe and Tyson Goldsack returned from injury.
Rewind to September last year and Madgen was uncontracted, having a run around with the Collingwood VFL side, hoping to impress recruiters enough to be signed onto their list as a Category B rookie – meaning he was coming from another sport.
That sport was basketball and it was in his pedigree.
Madgen grew up in Williamstown playing football and basketball.
He moved to the US and began a business degree at Delta State University on a four-year basketball scholarship.
There, he met his partner Heidi and they returned to Australia in 2016, keen for Madgen to play NBL. But a couple of seasons at the Cairns Taipans and a turn in Mount Gambier didn’t pan out.
On Thursday night, Collingwood again left Madgen on its emergency list for their side taking on Greater Western Sydney in tonight’s semi-final at the MCG.
But, say those who know him best, his being overlooked for the side wouldn’t be upsetting him too much: team always – always – comes first.