Simon Maddox gives his final address.
Photo by
JORDAN TOWNROW
It was an emotional victory for Echuca on Sunday.
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There were a plethora of reasons that galvanised the Murray Bombers’ senior outfit at Deakin Reserve.
It’s why outgoing Echuca coach Simon Maddox - his looming end one of such reasons for galvanisation - said the Murray Bombers had no plans on losing the decider.
“We had a fair bit to play for today,” Maddox said.
“From where we were 12 months ago, a couple of broken necks, a kid (AJ Mills) with a pretty bad diagnosis who wasn't even allowed to play footy, to where we are today.
“All week I’ve been telling everyone we’re not losing today, it was never on the agenda.”
The Murray Bombers were without a home in their 150th anniversary year, Cody Walker’s final game for the club before his expected AFL drafting had arrived and AJ Mills’ return to a grand final after being controversially barred from finals football in 2025 after a bout with brain cancer stacked up a sizeable emotional weight on what an Echuca flag would mean to the community.
The footy gods were looking out for Echuca though, with the match arguably over just as it had started after a blistering first quarter.
“Everything went to script, and footy’s good when it goes to script,” Maddox said.
One more premiership medallion for Simon Maddox.
Photo by
JORDAN TOWNROW
“It doesn’t always go like that unfortunately, and sometimes it ends in tears, and we’ve been on the end of that ourselves.
“Last year was pretty hard for us to take as a footy club, so to hit back the way we have this year, is amazing.
“Everything we used as motivation just to galvanise us.
“No footy ground, raining no end in winter, nowhere to shower, and we just kept turning up.
“We’d have 40 or 50 at training and the credit’s due to all the boys, they’re a fantastic group.
“The whole club, seniors reserves, 18s.
“Two weeks ago we said to the boys we’ll go watch the netball, and they hired a bus and came over, and we had 40 footballers there watching the A-grade netball play, so it’s a pretty special group.”
While Maddox departs his coaching role, he assured he won’t be too far away from the football club.
“I won’t be lost to the place,” he said.
“I’ll cook a barbecue, I’ll work the gate, or work on the bar or something.
“I’m getting old and grumpy and tired to tell you the truth, and the boys need a new change.
“It's been a great journey, started right back with Walks (Andrew Walker) at the start, and since then we’ve been very successful.
“If I can help out somewhere else, I definitely will.”
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