After 378 AFL/VFL games you might expect that getting out of bed each morning might be a challenge.

Former Essendon great Simon Madden admits his body isn’t what it used to be.

The legacy of his 22-year AFL career includes two premierships, four best and fairest awards, but it also includes a chronic back injury – one that has caused Madden to shrink almost an inch.

“It is the result of playing that much football, your body isn’t going to be perfect because you put it through stresses and strains… it’s just something that you have to deal with,” Madden says.

Overall Madden isn’t complaining – some of his contemporaries are facing hip and knee replacements in their mid-50s. His injuries are manageable with the right treatment, but the reality is that many footballers inherent more debilitative injuries from their football careers and some cannot afford the treatment required to function day-to-day.

While injuries might be a reality, Madden is strong in his belief that no player should leave league football in a worse position than when they started. The reality is that some do, and in the absence of private health insurance or workers compensation, cannot afford appropriate treatment.

For this reason Madden describes the recently launched AFL Players’ Trust as “immensely important” and a landmark moment in the history of the game.

“I know a lot of people who are better off for playing league football, and it’s been very good to me, but there are people who because of their involvement in league football are in a lesser situation than you would want them to be,” he says.

“So any process by which you can assist those people with injuries who come up against hardship that can be linked to their football career, I think it is incumbent upon the industry to look after them.”

The Players’ Trust provides funding to assist past-players who are in financial hardships to manage injuries occurring as a result of their time playing AFL/VFL football.

Madden believes the priority given to the development of the trust by the current day AFL players, is a great recognition of those who have gone before them and an investment in their personal future.

“I think its very good that the players have made sure this system is in place, but it’s a very good insurance policy for them… it’s an investment.”

“As a young footballer you don’t think about how your body is going to be in 20 or 30 years.”

For more information on the AFL Players Trust click here.