For all Madi Browne achieved in an elite playing career that included a Liz Ellis Diamond, Commonwealth Games gold and silver medals among 61 Tests and 178 national league games across four clubs, there's one place close to home that she had never been.
VNL Championship Grade.
Until last month, that is. In her home town of Geelong, Browne was called off the bench by Cougars coach Gerard Murphy during the round four match against North East Blaze.
In that second, the quirky gap in her CV was filled. In the aftermath, the 33-year-old midcourt superstar thanked her teammates with a cheeky reference to a Championship cherry.
“I was like ‘I’ve never played Championship before’ and they were like ‘what?’,’’ Browne says. “And I was like, nuh, the highest I’d ever played was Div One for Flyers, which was the underpinning side for Geelong. I was told I was never good enough for Championship’.’’
Not by Geelong, which did not boast a team at Victoria’s top level until 2014, meaning that Browne’s former Vixens teammate Tegan Philip was also among those forced to find Melbourne clubs. In Browne’s case, the talented teenager was clearly way more than good enough; vaulting directly from Palladians B team into the Melbourne Kestrels squad for a 2007 national league debut.
Just over 15 years later, picture a slightly underwhelming opening night at Christian College witnessed by about 200 spectators, mostly family and friends. “It was not my greatest game of netball I’ve ever played!’’ Browne admits, laughing. “Dad goes ‘well, there’s only one way to go, Mads’, and I was like ‘yeah, I know’.’’
Up would be the direction soon enough. But more of that later.
Having retired from Super Netball at her final club, the Magpies, last September, then completed a difficult extended rehab from a third knee surgery that - combined with Covid - forced the postponement of her plan to join the Leeds Rhinos in the UK Superleague in January, Browne’s medical team told her there was only one way to learn if her body would hold up for future competition, ideally overseas.
Try.
“It’s like anything: the longer you stay out of it the harder it is to get back into a team environment, into training. So I was like ‘yeah, I probably do need to rip the Band-Aid off and just be involved’.’’
After fielding enquiries from several VNL clubs, she sounded out Murphy’s Cougars, keen to train locally and represent the region where she had grown up. Browne was told she was welcome to join in and see how she felt; among the emotions when she turned up for that training comeback at the Geelong Sports Hub, the stadium where it had all begun, was deja vu.
When young Madi was a junior, the first big move was from outdoor asphalt at Kardinia Park to the stadium’s backwater courts five and six. Sprung floorboards. Apparently. Which felt to Browne and her fragile knee all these years later, more like concrete. “I was kind of like ‘oh my God, this is full circle. I’m back to trying to work my way back up to court one, in a way.’’
Aware she would need to earn her court-time, doubts were natural, but her confidence returned soon enough. Game two delivered a big win against the Wilson Storage Southern Saints, in which Browne played another 20 minutes or so, then posed for a selfie with a slightly starstruck opponent before joining parents Mark and Chris for the drive back down the Geelong Road.
“Dad’s an emotional person and he was like ‘I just can’t tell you how happy I am to see you playing like that…I just watched vintage Madi’, so that was really nice to hear. And Mum was like ‘it just warms our heart to see you out there really enjoying it, and not being in pain’.’’
Browne is happy to play a role off the bench. She is OK with spending 10 minutes trying to make an impact, then coming off again.
“My goals are different. I’m not there to play 60 minutes, I’m not there to be in the starting seven,’’ she says. “I say to Gez (Murphy) ‘if that’s what you need me to do, great, but if not I’m more than happy to sit here, assess the situation, support the other girls, do what I need to do’. It’s just nice for me to be back in a team environment again, as well.’’
Much like a retired AFL player who drops back to a country or suburban league, Browne finds it amusing that opponents get all fired up to play on her, as spectators urge them on from the sidelines.
“Part of me giggles a bit, because it’s like ‘you’re not playing against an SSN player any more, I’m not at that level, I’m just here to enjoy, participate, give to my team, just relish the experience. I wish I could give you my Diamonds’ best, but I’m 33, I’ve had three knee injuries, and this is just where I’m at, so I’m just giving what I can’.’’
There are other constants, though. Once a pro, always a pro, in terms of planning and preparation. Browne still takes two pairs of shoes to games, and is slightly relieved to be playing limited minutes, and thus not sweating her way through a dress that needs to be changed at half-time. The Cougars uniform: one per player.
Browne still likes to get to the courts early, to stretch, strap her ankles, prepare. Her meals will have been organised in advance. “I’m still very much ‘OCD Planner Madi’, regardless of the level of netball!’’ she laughs.
“There are still eyes watching and there are still people on the sideline when someone from their team is on me who are like ‘ooh, you did so well on her’ and I love that they want to bring their A-game, because I love being challenged.
“It’s just a different feeling now, and I’m really enjoying it. When you get to the elite level, it’s like anything, once it’s your job and you’re getting paid - don’t get me wrong, it was amazing - but that love, why you’re doing it, diminishes a little bit.
“Everyone who’s rocking up for VNL is rocking up because they friggin’ love it and they want to be there. We pay to play so if you’re sacrificing something on a Wednesday night to play and a Monday night to train it’s really special.
“It’s like ‘you’ve had to get a babysitter for your two kids to be here and I really appreciate that because I get to have 60 minutes of playing a sport that I love with you’.’’
Written by Linda Pearce
