Joel Madigan, right, and his brother Jesse celebrate another premiership. 70942
SOME people go through their whole footy careers without winning a premiership, yet Hillside Sharks junior Joel Madigan has already won four… and he’s only 10 year old.
In a truly rare achievement, Madigan recently won his fourth flag in the EDFL under-10 competition.
He began playing football at age seven and has played 62 games over the past four years for Hillside’s under-10s.
In four years of football he has played in only two losing games and one drawn game.
In his first year of footy, Hillside won a thrilling grand final with the last kick of the day. Madigan celebrated the victory with his older brother Jesse.
In his second season he began to get more involved in the game (and not get distracted by birds flying past), and kicked four goals for the season as the Sharks went through undefeated.
In season three Madigan enjoyed another unbeaten season and was part of a side that won the grand final by a convincing 32 points (his brother Jesse won the under-12 flag also).
This year, the experienced Madigan spent most of the year at centre-half forward with an occasional run in the ruck.
The under-10 veteran kicked four goals for the year including a memorable bouncing 45-metre goal in the preliminary final, which Hillside won by a point.
“He may not the best player in the team but he always gives 100 per cent and loves to tackle hard and do the team things. He simply loves to play footy,” Madigan’s dad Jamie said.
