A tribute to Darrell Madge, written by Titans Chairman Dennis Watt.
Gold Coast Titans sports trainer and gear steward Darrell Madge regards the preparation of the team’s jerseys each week as a sacred duty. He well understands the honour contained within the jersey in representing the club, the community, the families of all involved and the game itself and as a Vietnam War Veteran, Darrell especially understands what it means be part of a band of brothers, simply being able to look into each other’s eyes and know that your teammate has your back no matter what.
When a forward observer with the 107th Field Battery with the 4th Field Regiment at Nui Dat in 1970, before he and his fellow Australian soldiers crossed the wire to begin their jungle patrols to locate the enemy, they made the last of the available light to look into each other’s eyes.
They were reassuring each other that their tough and at times brutal training and their unbreakable bonds of mateship would get them through their assignments. They would literally die for each other if needed.
And on Sunday, when the team - wearing with pride their Anzac jerseys honouring one of Australia’s greatest and most selfless soldiers in Cameron Baird, VC, MG - prepares to take on the Dolphins at Suncorp Stadium, Darrell knows they will be ready if they are making eye contact in the sheds before they run out. Silent pledges to give of their very best for each other; for their jersey in honour of Cameron; and for all those who have served and continue to serve our country. Service, selflessness and sacrifice … a willingness to pay the price.
While Darrell has been involved with rugby league his entire life, first beginning with grade football with Manly on the northern beaches, he says the bonds he built with his fellow soldiers during the Vietnam War where they lived together 24/7 while in constant danger from a relentless and largely unseen enemy, are unbreakable. Darrell was a conscript or a “Nasho” called up when his numbers came out in the national ballot, one of more than 15,000 conscripts to serve in the Vietnam war, of whom 200 were killed - as part of Australia’s total 523 dead. Nashos also made up half of the 2400 who were wounded. As a budding builder, Darrell was allowed to finish his carpentry apprenticeship before undergoing training and being shipped off to Vietnam.
It was an unpopular war and when Darrell and his fellow soldiers returned to Australia - although forced to fight for their country - they were booed and spat upon. They were ordered to wear civilian clothes upon their return so as to remain anonymous but even so they were identified and singled out for abuse. It was many years before the country and even the defence community itself fully opened their arms to embrace these brave young men.
For 30 years, Darrell’s memories - including harsh training in which the object was to turn young men into hardened soldiers and the constant fear of being set upon by unseen enemies - burned silently inside him until eventually he sought help and was diagnosed with PTSD. “Young people should never see what we had to see,’ he says. Dealing with it, after the initial counselling and training, remains a constant endeavour, including a lot of positive self talk and always keeping busy. If something needs to be done around the Titans precinct or in getting the team to and from games, you can count on Darrell to lead the charge. And it was only in more recent years that Darrell has been able to march on Anzac Day as part of this country’s proud record of service across more than 100 years of history.
While the point is clear that there is no real comparison between what men and women are required to do in war as compared with sport, Darrell very much sees Anzac Day as a chance to acknowledge the freedoms won for us as a country while honouring the sacrifice and service of all those who have represented this country in fields of conflict.
And it is a chance for Darrell and his former colleagues to bond and to remember. Darrell is especially honoured when any of his four children and four grandchildren are present, either in the march or watching the parade. It helps give meaning to his service. And it is also a day to connect with his fellow veterans, even if by phone. Some of his former colleagues have not survived, taking their own lives in torment and his closest friend has also since passed.
As if representing the very resilience of rugby league on the Gold Coast and northern NSW, Darrell - or “Daggs” - as he is affectionately known to generations of footballers - has been a part of every national NRL franchise on the coast since 1988.. 35 years straight. Beginning as a sports trainer, he has been successively involved with the Giants, the Seagulls, the Chargers and now with the Titans in our 17th year. And generally he has given this continual service, while keeping his hand in with his building trade. In doing all that he has also been very much involved in helping build young men.
And while he has been a custodian of ensuring a reverence for the Titans’ jersey, he has also been a keeper of standards, living by the creed that “the standards you walk past are the standards you accept.” Many a young player has been given some life lessons on the run courtesy of Darrell’s hard-won philosophies on elite behaviour and they are better for it as is the Titans club.
On Sunday, Darrell will wear his medals, remember his mates and will lead the Titans onto the field at Suncorp Stadium for the Anzac Day commemoration before the clash with the Dolphins.
Once again, as in representing his country all those years ago, Darrell will be part of a “band of brothers.” Thank you so much Darrell for all that you and our fellow servicemen and women have done for and continue to do for this country. You are indeed a “keeper of the flame.”
