Madison Prespakis (born 2 November 2000) is an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er playing for the

Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers or colloquially the Dons, is a professional Australian rules football club that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCrac ...

in the

AFL Women's AFL Women's (AFLW) is Australia's national semi-professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football competition for women's Australian rules football, female players. The 2017 AFL Women's season, first season of the l ...

(AFLW). She previously played for the

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club based at Princes Park (stadium), Princes Park in Carlton North, Victoria, Carlton North, an inner suburb of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. The c ...

from 2019 to season 6. A midfielder who won multiple accolades at junior level and played in the

VFL Women's VFL Women's (VFLW) is the major state-level women's Australian rules football league in Victoria (Australia), Victoria. The league initially comprised the six premier division clubs and the top four division 1 clubs from the now-defunct Victori ...

(VFLW) as a teenager, Prespakis won the 2019 AFL Women's Rising Star award in her debut season and the 2020 AFL Women's best and fairest award in her second season. She is a three-time AFL Women's All-Australian, three-time Carlton best and fairest winner and was the inaugural Essendon best and fairest winner in season 7, and is Essendon's equal games record holder with 33 games.

Early life

Prespakis is the daughter of Damien and Jody. Her mother is an

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

from the Djadjawurrung tribe. Prespakis has three siblings: twin sister Annalea, Georgie and Jimmy; She attended

Gisborne Secondary College Gisborne Secondary College is a co-educational secondary school located in Gisborne, Victoria, established in 1981. The current enrolment is 1071 students. Students attend from years seven to twelve. The college serves a large proportion of the s ...

and supported growing up. Prespakis began playing football at four years old through the

Auskick Auskick is a program designed to teach the basic skills of Australian football to children aged between 5 and 12. Auskick is a non-contact variant of the sport. It began in Australia and is now a nationwide non-selective program. It has incre ...

program in

Romsey Romsey ( ) is a town in the Test Valley district of Hampshire, England. The town is situated northwest of Southampton, southwest of Winchester and southeast of Salisbury. It sits on the outskirts of the New Forest, just over northeast of ...

, north-west of

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. She played in boys' teams at first, before representing the under-15 Sunbury girls side. In 2017, Prespakis played in the premiership-winning

Calder Cannons The Calder Cannons is an Australian rules football club from Melbourne, Australia. The club competes in the Talent League, the Victorian Statewide Under-18s competition, and fields squads in the Under-15s, Under-16s and Under-18s. The club was f ...

side in the TAC Cup Girls. She was named in the league's team of the year and placed second in the league's

best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

with 20 votes. She competed at the

2017 AFL Women's Under 18 Championships The 2017 NAB AFL Women's Under-18 Championships was played between May and July 2017, with six teams competing and with a further three playing in a two-match round-robin series as a de facto Division 2. An Allies side (made up of players from ...

for Vic Metro and was named in the All-Australian squad. In October, Prespakis was named in the 2018 AFLW Academy squad as one of twenty-nine seventeen-year-old prospects. As part of this squad, she trained with the and over the following months. In 2018, Prespakis became captain of the Calder Cannons and won their best and fairest award with 113 out of a possible 120 votes. She was again named in the TAC Cup Girls Team of the Year and tied with

Nina Morrison Nina Morrison (born 13 December 2000) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Geelong Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW). A midfielder who won multiple accolades at junior level and played in the VFL Women's (VFLW) as a teenager ...

for the league best and fairest. She again competed at the

2018 AFL Women's Under 18 Championships The 2018 NAB AFL Women's Under-18 Championships was played between May and July 2018, with six teams competing in the main 'Series 2' round robin tournament and with a further four playing in a two-match on-on-one exhibition as the competition's ...

; she shared the competition's most valuable player award with Morrison on 16 votes apiece, won Vic Metro's most valuable player award and was named in the All-Australian side. She played in an

exhibition game An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the playe ...

for Victoria, acting as a curtain raiser for the E. J. Whitten Legends Game. Prespakis amassed 21 disposals in Victoria's win, the most of any player. Aside from under-18 competitions, she also played six matches for in the

(VFLW). Ahead of the

2018 AFL Women's draft The 2018 AFL Women's (AFLW) draft consisted of the various periods when the ten clubs in the Australian rules football women's competition could recruit players prior to the competition's 2019 season. As in the previous season, all player con ...

, Prespakis was widely predicted to be taken with one of the first selections. Prospective draftees were required to nominate a state or region they wished to play in; Prespakis selected the Melbourne metropolitan area, citing a wish to remain home with her family. This prevented from recruiting her with pick one or two and allowed Carlton the opportunity to select her with pick three.

AFL Women's career

Carlton (2019–2022)

Carlton recruited Prespakis with their first selection and third overall in the 2018 AFL Women's draft. She made her AFL Women's debut in the opening round of the 2019 season against at

North Hobart Oval North Hobart Oval is a Stadium, sports venue in North Hobart, Tasmania. Formerly used primarily for Australian rules football widely regarded as the traditional home of Australian football in Tasmania. However since the 1950s it has also becom ...

. The following round, she was nominated for the 2019 AFL Women's Rising Star award after kicking one goal and amassing 20 disposals, seven clearances and nine contested possessions against . Prespakis went on to play in the

2019 AFL Women's Grand Final The 2019 AFL Women's Grand Final was an Australian rules football match held at Adelaide Oval on 31 March 2019 to determine the List of AFL Women's premiers, premiers of the league's 2019 AFL Women's season, third season. Admission was free to ...

loss to Adelaide in front of a record AFL Women's crowd, and was among Carlton's best players. Following a debut season in which she averaged 19 disposals and kicked seven goals across nine games, Prespakis won the 2019 AFL Women's Rising Star award with 49 votes and was named in the

2019 AFL Women's All-Australian team The 2019 AFL Women's All-Australian team represents the best-performed players of the 2019 AFL Women's season. It was announced on 2 April 2019 as a complete women's Australian rules football team of 21 players. The team is honorary and does no ...

. She also won the AFLW Players' best first-year player award and tied for the Carlton best and fairest award with captain

Brianna Davey Brianna Iris Davey (born 13 January 1995) is an Australian footballer in both the Association football (soccer) and Australian rules football codes. In soccer, she was a goalkeeper for the national women's team the Matildas and played in the W- ...

, capping off a memorable first season. Leading into the 2020 season, ''womens.afl'' journalist Sarah Black named Prespakis at no. 23 on her list of the top 30 players in the AFLW. She was selected in ''womens.afl''s Team of the Week in rounds 1, 3 and 6, and tied with North Melbourne's Jasmine Garner and 's

Karen Paxman Karen "Paxy" Paxman (born 25 November 1988) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW). A defender, tall, Paxman plays primarily on the half-back line with the ability to push into the ...

as ''womens.afl''s player of the year. Prespakis was selected in the

2020 AFL Women's All-Australian team The 2020 AFL Women's All-Australian team represents the best-performed players of the 2020 AFL Women's season. It was announced on 27 April 2020 as a complete women's Australian rules football team of 21 players. The team is honorary and does n ...

, and was also selected as vice-captain in the

AFL Players Association The AFL Players Association (AFLPA, also simply known as AFL Players) is the representative body for all current and past professional Australian Football League (AFL) and AFL Women's (AFLW) players. The AFLPA promotes and protects its member ...

's inaugural AFL Women's 22under22 team, having earlier been selected in the retrospective 2017–2019 team. She went on to win her second Carlton best and fairest award, after coming second in voting for the AFLW Players' most valuable player award for that season, and capped off her season by winning the 2020 AFL Women's best and fairest award with 15 votes, at just 19 years of age; in doing so, she became the first indigenous player to win the award. She later said that she had turned to Carlton AFL co-captain

Patrick Cripps Patrick Cripps (born 18 March 1995) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Cripps won the Leigh Matthews Trophy in 2019, and is a dual Brownlow Medallist, fo ...

at times during the season for advice on how to deal with taggers. Leading into the 2021 season, Sarah Black named Prespakis at no. 1 on her annual list of the top 30 players in the AFLW. Prespakis was best afield in Carlton's win against in round 3, recording 24 disposals and a goal, and was selected in ''womens.afl''s Team of the Week for that round. She was again among the best afield the following week against with 19 disposals and two goals, and was again selected in ''womens.afl''s Team of the Week, but was cited for a dangerous tackle on former teammate Sarah Hosking, which eventuated in a one-match suspension. Prespakis attempted to overturn the suspension at the AFL Tribunal but was unsuccessful, ruling her out of the competition's inaugural indigenous round and meaning she would be ineligible for that year's AFL Women's best and fairest award. She was best afield upon her return against in round 6 with 27 disposals and a goal, despite injuring her left elbow in the first quarter, and again won selection in ''womens.afl''s Team of the Week. Prespakis was named at no. 17 in Sarah Black's 2022 list of the top 30 players in the AFLW. She was named Carlton's best player in its opening round loss to and was best afield with a career-high 29 disposals in Carlton's win over Geelong in round 2, which saw Prespakis play against her sister Georgie for the first time; she also polled six coaches' votes and was selected in ''womens.afl''s Team of the Week for that round. Prespakis was named Carlton's best player with 27 disposals in its loss to in round 3 and was also selected in ''womens.afl''s Team of the Week for that round. She was among Carlton's best players every other match for the season, polling eight coaches' votes in Carlton's win over in round 8.

Essendon (2022–present)

In April 2022, Prespakis and teammate

Georgia Gee Georgia Gee (born 28 October 1999) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Essendon Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW). Gee was drafted by Carlton with their first selection and twelfth overall in the 2017 AFL Women's draft. She ...

accepted deals to join 's inaugural AFLW team, with both signing on the opening day of the expansion signing period in May. Leading into the 2023 season, Sarah Black named Prespakis at no. 11 on her annual list of the top 30 players in the AFLW. In 2024, Prespakis was named among Essendon's best players in losses to Fremantle in week 1 and St Kilda in week 3, and was Essendon's best player in its win over West Coast in week 2 with 27 disposals.

Statistics

''Updated to the end of the 2024 season''. , - ,

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, , , , 4 , 9 , , 7 , , 3 , , 113 , , 59 , , 172 , , 17 , , 28 , , 0.8 , , 0.3 , , 12.6 , , 6.6 , , 19.1 , , 1.9 , , 3.1 , , 5 , - ,

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, , , , 4 , 7 , , 3 , , 3 , , 88 , , 61 , , 149 , , 19 , , 21 , , 0.4 , , 0.4 , , 12.6 , , 8.7 , , 21.3 , , 2.7 , , 3.0 , , bgcolor=98FB98 , 15^± , - ,

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, , , , 4 , 8 , , 4 , , 4 , , 79 , , 90 , , 169 , , 13 , , 33 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 9.9 , , 11.3 , , 21.1 , , 1.6 , , 4.1 , , 10 , - , 2022 (S6) , , , , 4 , 10 , , 1 , , 2 , , 90 , , 115 , , 205 , , 24 , , 35 , , 0.1 , , 0.2 , , 9.0 , , 11.5 , , 20.5 , , 2.4 , , 3.5 , , 7 , - , 2022 (S7) , , , , 4 , 10 , , 6 , , 3 , , 119 , , 118 , , 237 , , 22 , , 49 , , 0.6 , , 0.3 , , 11.9 , , 11.8 , , 23.7 , , 2.2 , , 4.9 , , 17 , - ,

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, , , , 4 , 11 , , 5 , , 2 , , 146 , , 142 , , 288 , , 32 , , 56 , , 0.5 , , 0.2 , , 13.3 , , 12.9 , , 26.2 , , 2.9 , , 5.1 , , 10 , - ,

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, , , , 4 , 12 , , 3 , , 7 , , 176 , , 105 , , 281 , , 32 , , 37 , , 0.3 , , 0.6 , , 14.7 , , 8.8 , , 23.4 , , 2.7 , , 3.1 , , 18 , - class=sortbottom ! colspan=3 , Career ! 67 !! 29 !! 24 !! 811 !! 690 !! 1501 !! 159 !! 259 !! 0.4 !! 0.4 !! 12.1 !! 10.3 !! 22.4 !! 2.4 !! 3.9 !! 82

Personal life

Prespakis' younger sister Georgie currently plays for , having been selected with the second selection in the

2021 AFL Women's draft The 2021 AFL Women's draft consists of the various periods when the 14 clubs in the AFL Women's competition can recruit players prior to the competition's 2022 season 6. Special assistance In May 2021, just before the draft period began, the ...

. Prespakis also dated then- player Serene Watson.

Honours and achievements

AFL Women's best and fairest The AFL Women's best and fairest is awarded to the best and fairest player in the AFL Women's (AFLW) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game. It is the most prestigious award ...

* Essendon equal games record holder * 3×

AFL Women's All-Australian team The AFL Women's All-Australian team is an all-star team of women's Australian rules footballers playing in the AFL Women's (AFLW), selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including interchange players and a ...

, S7 * 3× Carlton best and fairest: 2019, 2020, S6 * Essendon best and fairest: S7 *

AFL Women's Rising Star The AFL Women's Rising Star award is presented annually to the best young player in the AFL Women's (AFLW) during the home-and-away season. The first award was awarded in 2017 AFL Women's Rising Star, 2017. The award has been sponsored by Telstr ...

* AFLPA AFLW best first-year player: 2019

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Prespakis, Madison 2000 births Living people Indigenous Australian players of Australian rules football 21st-century Indigenous Australian people Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Calder Cannons players Carlton Football Club (AFLW) players Essendon Football Club (AFLW) players Melbourne University Football Club (VFLW) players Calder Cannons players (Talent League Girls) Australian lesbian sportswomen LGBTQ players of Australian rules football Australian people of Greek descent Sportspeople of Greek descent