Jock Madden has been named the Western Suburbs Magpies Player of the Year after his successful season in The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup.
It was a year to remember for the crafty halfback whose brilliant form was rewarded with an NRL debut in Wests Tigers dominant victory over Newcastle Knights during Magic Round. Madden finished the year with three NRL games under his belt.
The former Australian schoolboy established himself as one of the competition’s leading playmakers through his ability to attack the line alongside his pinpoint kicking and passing game.
Madden, 21, finished the year as the leading point scorer in The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup with 130 points. In addition, Madden tallied eight tries, 49 goals, six try assists, seven linebreak assists, and was second in total kick metres (2,905) when the season was cancelled.
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It’s clear that Madden has enormous talent, but it’s his willingness to learn that has impressed Magpies coach Ben Gardiner the most.
“He wants to be a really good footy player,” Gardiner told nswrl.com.au.
“He wants to learn; he wants to build his game and he’s constantly coming to me and asking, ‘What can I do better and how can I do it better?
“When you have a player that has that level of talent and that level of commitment, I think you’ve got the combination for someone that’s going to be a good player.
“He’s got a lot to work on in his game and he’ll be the first to tell you that. But the thing is that he’s willing to do it.
“He knows he’s still got steps to take to be a week-in-week-out NRL player but the fact that he wants to continually work on it is a really great attribute.”
The sky is the limit for the Magpies in 2022. They were sitting in second position on The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup ladder before the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 situation in Sydney.
It’s clear that Gardiner had a positive influence on the side after they also finished as the best attacking side in the competition, scoring 422 points for and 294 against.
