Madison Prespakis
Madison Prespakis (born 2 November 2000) is an Australian rules footballer who plays as a midfielder for the Essendon Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW) competition.[1][2]
Recruited to Carlton as a father-daughter selection in 2018 after a standout junior career with Calder Cannons, Prespakis debuted in the 2019 AFLW season and quickly emerged as a dominant ball-winner, averaging high disposal counts and contributing significantly to her team's midfield drive.[2][3]
Her breakout year in 2020 saw her claim the league's Best and Fairest award, becoming the first Indigenous woman to win the honor, alongside club best-and-fairest and All-Australian selection; she repeated the club award in 2022 and earned further All-Australian honors in 2019 and season seven.[4][5][6]
Prior to joining Essendon ahead of season seven in 2022, where she won the club's inaugural AFLW best-and-fairest, Prespakis also secured the 2019 AFLW Rising Star award for her debut performance.[7][6][7]
Contracted with Essendon through 2027, she remains one of the competition's most influential players, known for her relentless tackling and game-high disposal hauls, including a career-best 37 against Geelong in 2022.[2][2]
Early life
Family background and upbringing
Madison Prespakis was born on 2 November 2000 and raised in the Sunbury region of Victoria, approximately 40 kilometers northwest of Melbourne.[8][1] She grew up in a family environment that emphasized proximity and support, with her decision to prioritize staying near home influencing early life choices.[9] Prespakis is the daughter of Damien and Jody Prespakis, with her mother's lineage tracing to the Dja Dja Wurrung people of central Victoria, conferring Aboriginal heritage through the maternal line.[9][10] This heritage connects to the Bendigo area, roughly 150 kilometers northwest of Melbourne, where her maternal family originates.[9] The family includes three siblings, among them a twin sister and younger sister Georgie, fostering a household dynamic oriented toward athletic pursuits from an early age.[10][11] Her formative years featured initial immersion in Australian rules football via the Auskick program at age four in nearby Romsey, an entry point shaped by familial encouragement rather than formal coaching structures.[12] This early access, combined with the Prespakis family's demonstrated sporting inclinations—evident in multiple siblings engaging with the game—provided a foundational causal influence on her physical and competitive development prior to structured junior competitions.[11]Junior football development and early accolades
Prespakis began her junior football career playing with boys' teams at Romsey Junior Football Club before transitioning to girls' teams due to age restrictions, joining the under-15 Sunbury Lions side.[13][14] She progressed to the Calder Cannons in the NAB League Girls (formerly TAC Cup Girls), contributing to their 2017 premiership win.[10] In 2018, as captain of the Calder Cannons, Prespakis won the club's best and fairest award, securing 113 out of 120 votes, and was named in the NAB League Girls team of the year while finishing second in the league's best and fairest count with 20 votes.[10] She also claimed the TAC Cup Girls best and fairest award that year, alongside her Vic Metro MVP performance at the AFL Under-18 National Championships, where she earned MVP honors and All-Australian selection.[15][16] These achievements followed prior Vic Metro MVP recognition, underscoring her dominance in under-18 competitions.[12] Prespakis made her VFL Women's debut as a teenager with Melbourne University in July 2018, gaining exposure to senior-level play ahead of the AFLW draft.[17]AFL Women's career
Draft selection and Carlton debut (2019)
Prespakis was selected by Carlton with the third overall pick in the 2018 NAB AFL Women's draft, recruited from the Calder Cannons in the VFL Women's where she had demonstrated strong midfield prowess as a teenager.[18][10] The selection prioritized her talent scouting profile, including junior accolades, over any potential eligibility under emerging father-daughter provisions linked to her father Nick Prespakis's playing history with Footscray/Western Bulldogs, as Carlton secured her directly via the draft process without invoking club priority rights.[19][20] She made her AFL Women's debut in Round 1 of Season 4 on 3 February 2019 against North Melbourne at IKON Park, recording 13 disposals (3 kicks, 10 handballs), 8 tackles, and 5 contested possessions in a 29-point loss, showcasing early physicality and ball-winning ability despite the team's struggles.[21][22] In Round 2 against Adelaide on 10 February 2019, Prespakis elevated her output to 20 disposals (7 kicks, 13 handballs), 10 tackles, and 2 goals, contributing to a 25-point victory and earning a NAB AFL Women's Rising Star nomination for her combative on-ball performance.[21][20] These early metrics highlighted her contested ball efficiency and tackling pressure, with averages of 16.5 disposals and 9 tackles across the opening rounds, positioning her as a key rookie amid Carlton's rebuilding efforts.[10] Her seamless integration culminated in winning the 2019 NAB AFL Women's Rising Star award, awarded on 2 April 2019 after a season where she amassed 171 disposals (19.0 average), 77 tackles, and 7 goals over 9 games, outperforming peers in midfield dominance metrics without specific vote breakdowns publicly detailed beyond her outright victory.[23][10] This recognition underscored her rapid adaptation to professional demands, though sourced from league officials and club reports emphasizing empirical output over subjective narratives.[18]Carlton performance and key seasons (2019–2022)
Prespakis debuted for Carlton in the 2019 AFL Women's Season 1, playing all nine games and averaging 19.1 disposals, 4.4 clearances, and 0.8 goals per match, contributing to a breakout year that saw her named the AFLW Rising Star and AFLPA Best First Year Player.[1][18] Her versatility as a midfielder-forward earned her a place in the All-Australian team, despite Carlton's ninth-place finish on the ladder with three wins.[1][24] The 2020 Season 2 marked Prespakis's peak at age 19, where she featured in all seven games amid a COVID-affected schedule, averaging 21.3 disposals, 4.3 clearances, and 3.3 inside-50s—statistical highs that underscored her contest-winning and forward-driving impact.[1][25] Polling the maximum three Brownlow Medal votes in six of those matches, she won the league's best-and-fairest award with 15 votes, becoming the first teenager to do so, alongside another All-Australian selection and Carlton's club best-and-fairest.[26][27] Carlton ended the season in eighth position, qualifying for finals but exiting early, highlighting Prespakis's individual dominance amid team inconsistency. In 2021 Season 4, Prespakis sustained elite output across 10 games, averaging 21.1 disposals but with a slight clearance dip to 3.8 per game, while earning her third Carlton best-and-fairest.[1][28] She faced a one-match suspension for striking, yet returned to influence key wins, as Carlton secured seventh place with five victories, reflecting mid-table stability but no further All-Australian recognition for her.[29][30] Prespakis's 2022 Season 6 showed resilience with 20.5 disposals and 3.6 clearances averaged over 10 games, culminating in another Carlton best-and-fairest amid focused off-season conditioning to reclaim peak form.[1][31] However, clearances remained below her 2020 benchmark, and Carlton languished lower on the ladder with only two wins, underscoring how team-wide struggles limited collective impact despite her consistent ball-winning.[32][33]Trade to Essendon (2022)
Following the conclusion of the 2022 AFL Women's season on April 10, Madison Prespakis notified Carlton on April 11 of her intention to seek a transfer to Essendon, the league's newest expansion club set to debut in 2023, alongside teammate Georgia Gee.[34] As an expansion signing under AFLW rules allowing new teams limited quota selections of requesting players without trade compensation, Essendon secured Prespakis directly, with no draft picks exchanged between the clubs.[35] Carlton had offered her a two-year Tier 1 contract extension, but Prespakis prioritized the move, citing Essendon's status as her childhood supported club and the opportunity to fulfill a long-held personal ambition.[36][37] Prespakis' decision stemmed from dissatisfaction with her positional and developmental trajectory at Carlton, where post-2020 AFLW best-and-fairest win, she experienced a shift to half-forward amid emerging midfield depth including Mimi Hill and Maddy Guerin, prompting her to question whether her growth had plateaued.[36] She expressed underwhelm at Carlton's responses to her development inquiries, seeking a fresh environment to reclaim a central midfield role and advance her career, factors she emphasized were not financially motivated.[36][38] Essendon officials, including male captain Zach Merrett, influenced her through discussions on the club's vision and his own experiences, reinforcing her view of better fit there.[36] The transfer drew immediate analyst praise as a marquee coup for Essendon, positioning them competitively from inception, though it posed risks given Prespakis' youth (21 at the time) and the unproven dynamics of an expansion roster.[39] Carlton viewed it as a significant setback, compounded by Gee's concurrent departure, with teammates reportedly surprised and disappointed by the rapid unraveling of contract talks.[36] League observers ranked it among the 2022 off-season's top moves, highlighting Prespakis' prior accolades as elevating Essendon's profile despite the lack of reciprocal assets for Carlton.[39]Essendon tenure and recent developments (2023–present)
Prespakis integrated into Essendon's midfield during the 2023 AFLW season, where she recorded standout performances, including becoming the youngest player to reach 1,000 career disposals on September 18, 2023, with 21 disposals, five clearances, and two goals against West Coast.[40] Her contributions helped stabilize Essendon's engine room amid adaptation challenges following the 2022 trade, though the team finished outside finals contention.[2] In 2024, Prespakis anchored Essendon's improved midfield dynamics, contributing to the club's first AFLW finals appearance.[41] The Bombers reached the elimination final but suffered a 10-point defeat to Fremantle on November 9, 2024, with Prespakis exiting late in the third quarter due to a cork injury that sidelined her for the remainder of the match.[42] On March 9, 2024, she committed long-term by signing a four-year contract extension, securing her presence until the end of the 2027 season.[43] The 2025 season saw Prespakis reach her 75th AFLW game milestone on October 3 against Melbourne, where she amassed 29 disposals as Essendon's standout performer despite a loss.[44] Earlier, she featured prominently in Round 6 versus Fremantle on September 20 and Round 7 against North Melbourne on September 26, bolstering the midfield in key contests.[45][46] Her sustained influence underscores Essendon's reliance on her for contested ball wins and transition play, though recent results highlight ongoing team inconsistencies in converting individual brilliance into collective success.[47]Playing style and statistics
Technical attributes and evolution
Madison Prespakis, at 164 cm tall, employs a playing style predicated on agility and low-center-of-gravity leverage, allowing her to evade tackles and accelerate through tight spaces in midfield contests rather than relying on height for aerial duels.[1] Her combative approach emphasizes inside work, where she applies relentless tackling pressure to disrupt opponents and force turnovers at ground level.[18] Prespakis thrives as a contested ball winner, drawing on physical ferocity to extract possessions from stoppages, a trait rooted in her junior profile as a "contested-ball bull" capable of both inside grunt and transitional bursts.[12] From her explosive junior days, marked by raw power in high-pressure scenarios, Prespakis has evolved into a more resilient professional midfielder, prioritizing sustained execution over intermittent bursts to maintain effectiveness across quarters.[12] This maturation reflects causal adaptations in workload management, where early career intensity gave way to refined durability, enabling consistent midfield dominance without the fatigue spikes seen in less conditioned players.[18] At Essendon following her 2022 trade, Prespakis has refined her skill set toward greater polish in disposal and vision, transitioning from predominantly combative extraction to classier outside involvement that enhances team transitions.[2] Her smaller stature continues to favor agility-driven mechanics, such as quick handball receives and evasive runs, over power-based marking, underscoring a playstyle evolution geared toward efficiency in space rather than brute force alone.[12]Career statistical record
Prespakis has contested 78 AFLW matches through the 2025 season, establishing herself as a high-volume ball-winner in the midfield.[1] Her career averages stand at 22.6 disposals per game (12.2 kicks, 10.3 handballs), 2.4 marks, 3.9 tackles, and 4.4 clearances, reflecting sustained output across 34 games with Carlton and 44 with Essendon.[1][10]| Club | Games | Goals | Key Averages (Disposals / Tackles / Clearances) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carlton (2019–2022) | 34 | 15 | 20.5 / 3.5 / 3.8 (debut season: 19.0 disposals)[10][18] |
| Essendon (2023–present) | 44 | Not specified | 23.2 / 4.5 / 4.6 (2023 peak: 23.7 disposals, 4.9 tackles)[48] |