AFL 2018: AFLW prospect Madison Prespakis looms as top draft fancy after standout season for Calder Cannons

FROM blitzing the boys at Romsey to being named captain of Vic Metro, Madison Prespakis has already achieved plenty in a short football career.

MADISON Prespakis would have been lost without footy.

The tenacious on-baller was resigned to a future without her chosen sport when she graduated from playing alongside the boys at Romsey Redbacks.

By 11, she had already won two best-and-fairest awards at Romsey.

Featured in a Herald Sun articlein 2012 under the headline ‘Maddy rules the boys’, she said: “I’ve never played football with girls, not many play, but it doesn’t bother me because I always play with boys.”

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She discovered girls footy after moving to Sunbury and was asked by then Calder Cannons coach Alicia Eva to try out for Vic Metro.

In the past three years, Prespakis has established herself as one of the best AFLW prospects in the country.

The Sunbury resident featured in Calder’s historic TAC Cup Girls premiership last season, was captain of the Cannons this year and has led Vic Metro during the Under-18 National Championships.

“I always knew playing with the boys there was an age where I had to stop playing,” Prespakis said.

“When I stopped playing it was quite tough. The boys, a lot of them wanted to strive to get drafted to AFL level. I really didn’t know what I could do from there.

“That was a tough time because I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to play again.”

Madison Prespakis was blitzing the boys at Romsey early in her career.

Prespakis could hardly have timed her likely arrival to the national stage better.

Women’s football has exploded in the past two years and doors which were once firmly closed have opened.

“Last year when AFL Women’s got underway, that’s just pushed me even further,” she said.

“To see some of my friends I have played with in the last few years being able to run out in an AFL jumper makes me want to do it even more.

“That’s where all my hard work is going towards.”

Calder Cannons Madison Prespakis gets a kick away against Eastern Ranges. Picture: Robert Prezioso.

A tough but skilful midfielder who often hits the scoreboard, Prespakis has made an impact at every level she has played at.

In her VFL Women’s debut for Melbourne Uni, she was adjudged her side’s best player.

The 17-year-old had 23 disposals, five marks and five tackles despite the Mugars being beaten by 69 points by NT Thunder.

Only AFLW players Chloe Molloy (Collingwood) and Bridie Kennedy (Carlton) finished with more votes in the inaugural TAC Cup Girls best and fairest count than Prespakis, who has been a member of the AFLW academy.

This year, she polled 113 of a possible 120 votes to claim the Cannons’ best and fairest award ahead of Georgia Patrikios and Carla Rendelmann.

Vic Metro's Madison Prespakis kicks long during the Under-18 AFLW championships. Picture: Kelly Defina.

Prespakis has been primed for the next level by several of her friends who have been drafted to AFLW clubs.

She said players such as Monique Conti (Western Bulldogs), Sarah Dargan (Collingwood) and Brittany Bonnici (Collingwood) had shared their experiences with her.

“I got really close with a lot of those girls and seeing them do what they always aimed to do pushes me even further,” she said.

While the next level beckons for the rising star, she said playing alongside her sisters Georgie and Annalea in an EDFL premiership last year for Sunbury was a feat she would always cherish.

“You don’t really get to say you’ve won a grand final with two of your sisters,” the Gisborne Secondary College student said.

The Essendon supporter is often asked what it would be like to run out in the red and black.

As she has done throughout her burgeoning career, Prespakis is set to make an impression regardless of which AFLW jumper she wears.

“I would, but at the same time, I wouldn’t really care what colour jumper I wear. It’s always been a dream,” she said.