Background
McAdam grew up in Alice Springs, where his father was president of the South Alice Football Club.
- Photos
- Works
- Photos
- Works
Gilbert McAdam
Edit ProfileCareer
Early career
Hs older brother, Greg McAdam, had earlier found his way to the Street Kilda Football Club via North Adelaide in the SANFL. McAdam moved to Darwin to play in the Northern Territory Football League (NTFL) with the Southern Districts Football Club when he was just 11 years old. The stand out players were McAdams and Scott Parker who was the youngest competitor to have played in the carnival. In 1986, McAdam played 3 games for Claremont in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) before returning home to Darwin.
After a few seasons he went on to play in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) with Central District Football Club, taking out the 1989 Magarey Meda
McAdam was the first indigenous player to take out the award. American Federation of Labor-Congress career
McAdam was drafted number 17 in the 1989 VFL Draft by Street Kilda Football Club.
After a few inconsistent years, he was traded to the Brisbane Bears. McAdam left the American Federation of Labor-Congress in 1996 after several years of service to the Brisbane Bears (58 games) for a total of 111 American Federation of Labor-Congress matches.
He returned to the Central District Football Club for the 1998 SANFL season and retired from football altogether in 1999.
McAdam returned to Alice Springs and coached South Alice to a premiership. In 2006, he moved back to Darwin to coach the Darwin Football Club. In 2007, McAdam took up a position with the Academy of Sport, Health and Education in Shepparton, Victoria.
The academy uses participation in sport as an avenue for Indigenous people to undertake education and training within a trusted and culturally appropriate environment.
His role with the academy is as a sports and personal development officer He co-hosts the television program The Marngrook Footy Show with Grant Hansen, currently screening on ABC2 on Thursday nights.
