Simon Madden's Norm Smith Medal-winning performance in the 1985 grand final doesn't feel that long ago. Until some mornings when he gets out of bed.
"You get up some days and your body aches, and you go: 'Yep, it's 30 years all right'," he laughs. But he hastens to add, a legacy well worth it. And one that will be recalled more than a few times over the next month or so.
Essendon's back-to-back premierships of 1984-85 are being marked with a series of events to commemorate the anniversary, a gala dinner and the appearance of the players from those triumphant teams at the club's round-two MCG clash with Hawthorn, the old foes the Bombers opposed in three successive grand finals from 1983-85.
After being smashed in the first of those playoffs, Essendon famously turned around a 23-point three-quarter-time deficit with a nine-goal last term in 1984 to win their first premiership since 1965. The following year, a by-now dominant team delivered again in emphatic fashion by 78 points.
"In 1984, we weren't sure whether we were the best team, but in 1985 we knew we were the best team of that year and I think everyone else did," Madden recalls. "That day, we really wanted to show people why."
None the least Essendon's champion ruckman, who finished with 22 disposals, 14 marks, 22 hitouts, and not one but two medals around his neck.
The Bombers' line-up overflowed with sheer talent. The likes of Tim Watson, skipper Terry Daniher, the mercurial Paul Vander Haar, super-cool centreman Leon Baker, intimidating centre half-forward Roger Merrett and a youthful Paul Salmon.
But for Madden, that was just the start of the roll call. "We had a lot of blokes who weren't as high-profile also playing their best football," he says, "guys like 'Daisy' Williams, Glenn Hawker, Paul Weston, Garry Foulds and a couple of young blokes in Mark Harvey and 'Bomber' Thompson."
And those ties remain lasting. "I still see a lot of Terry and 'Vander', I went to Glenn Hawker's wedding the other weekend, I see Kevin Walsh a lot, 'Fouldsy' and Frank Dunell live out this side of town," Madden says. "And even if you haven't seen someone for a long time, there's still that bond of knowing you achieved this great thing together.
"One of the things I love about footy, and that side, is that if I hadn't played league footy, our paths wouldn't have crossed. With a lot of them, you might not have had anything in common to start with. But you build something together with their help, and the coach, and you achieve something special. It's just a great memory to have.
"We've lost 'Nobby' Clarke, and we've lost Merv Neagle, and you realise the frailty of life. But you also realise the strength of the human spirit in lots of ways when you look back at how hard we worked together to get that success."
The 1984 flag broke a 19-year premiership drought for Essendon, the longest in their successful history. Madden calls it the start of the club's modern era. So it's not lost on him that it's coming up to 15 years since the Dons last added a premiership cup to the cabinet. Indeed, 11 years since they even won a final.
"It's harder now," he says. "The AFL want equality. They want you to win one every 18 years, that's basically the mandate of the organising body. And first, you have to give yourself an opportunity to at least have a go at it.
"Back then, we lost quite a few elimination finals. But you get that first finals win and all of a sudden your psyche changes, you go: 'So that's what they're talking about. I like this.' I think our players now are getting to the stage where that could happen."
But until then, to adapt Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca, the Bombers will always have their own version of Paris, those famous back-to-back flags of 30 years ago. And come that round-two clash with the Hawks, Madden is tipping a big evening.
"Hopefully, they've all mellowed a bit. But, like I've often said, if you get in a 'shout' with Terry Daniher, Paul Vander Haar, Roger Merrett, Leon Baker and Billy Duckworth, you'd better be able to drink."
