Rick Quade
1970-1980
164 games
111 goals
Captain 1977-1979
Best & Fairest 1976
Coach 1982-1984

Growing up in a large family has many advantages. As one of 15 kids on their Riverina farm, Rick Quade learned about responsibility, gratitude, and hard work. He also enjoyed a ready-made support system and viewed his older siblings as role models. Two of his elder brothers, Tom and Mick, progressed to the VFL with North Melbourne, which contextualised a possible pathway to elite-level sport.

Quade attended St. Patrick's College in Goulburn, playing Rugby Union throughout his teen years. Upon completing his schooling, he returned home, playing footy with his local club, Ariah Park-Mirrool, in the powerful South West District Football League. In 1968 – his second season there – Quade kicked 101 goals, winning the club's best and fairest as a 17-year-old. He kicked a league-record 138 goals the following year while claiming another best and fairest award.

The young full-forward's incredible feats attracted North Melbourne's attention, but Quade's dad, Leo, believed his son needed another year at home before taking the next step. Quade supported the Kangaroos and looked set to join them until an unexpected visit from an Australian Football Legend changed his football destiny.

"Norm Smith had been appointed coach of South Melbourne," Quade recalled. "Norm was incredible. Not many coaches would've done this, but he drove up from Melbourne to get to know my father and my family background. He made that trip seven times, eventually convinced Dad that South Melbourne was the right place for me, and they became good mates."

Filled with excitement, Quade moved to Melbourne and began his lifelong association with the Swans. Smith became a guiding influence and helped Quade through an unsettled time of battling homesickness. The George Hotel housed a group of South Melbourne players, and the team gathered regularly to absorb their masterful coach's knowledge and storytelling talent.

The group's closeness helped Quade establish himself amid the unfamiliarity of city life. Smith believed his young recruit could become one of the all-time great players. He moved him from full-forward into the ruck-rover role, and after a practice match, he told a group of reporters that Quade could become the next Ron Barassi.

Selected to make his VFL debut in Round 1 of the 1970 season against Melbourne, Quade's introduction to the senior team created great anticipation among the club's supporters. Unfortunately for Quade, he badly injured his knee, requiring a complete reconstruction. His coach helped him through.

"If Norm hadn't been there, I'd never have played football again, there's no doubt about that. I was a bit of a guinea pig regarding getting the reconstruction because, in those days, if you did your ACL, that was the end of your career," Quade said.

"Some of the committeemen weren't keen to keep me, but Norm backed me in, so long as I did the work. He told me to sell my car and get a bike. I had to build a special table in my room at the George Hotel where I was living so I could do weights, and I went to the beach twice a week. Norm kept me involved, and Norm encouraged me the whole time to keep going."

As the Swans forged a path to the finals for the first time in 25 years, Smith told Quade to find a suit and join him on the sidelines. A silver lining emerged as the young star joined arguably the game's greatest coach, gaining an invaluable football education that he'd later call upon during his coaching career. South Melbourne lost the 1970 semi-final to St Kilda, but finally, there was light flickering on the horizon.

That hope proved short-lived, though, and after two disappointing seasons, Smith departed the club. Defying the medical odds, Quade solidified his position within the team, playing 36 games across the 1971-72 seasons. However, when Smith passed away suddenly from a brain tumour at age 57 in 1973, the football world entered a collective state of shock. At 23, Quade was one of the legendary coach's four pallbearers.

Feeling disillusioned with League football early in the 1975 season, Quade returned home and coached Ariah Park to a preliminary final finish in the SWDFL. The appointment of Craig Kimberley as South Melbourne president influenced Quade's decision to return in 1976, and he displayed career-best form, winning the Swans' best and fairest under new coach Ian Stewart.

After one near-perfect performance against Fitzroy, The Sunday Press reported, "If ever a man was entitled to sit back and pull quietly on a cigar as reward for a day's work well done, it was South Melbourne's dynamic ruck-rover, Ricky Quade. And that is just what Quade did at the Lake Oval early tonight."

South Melbourne appointed Quade captain ahead of the 1977 season, replacing the departing Peter Bedford. "It was a tremendous honour. But it was tinged with sadness because I was replacing a man who had been one of my idols," Quade said.

Quade was an exemplary leader, fearlessly combining pure talent with raw aggression to earn the respect of his teammates and opponents. He led the Swans into only their second finals appearance in 32 years, but the team unfortunately underperformed in the elimination final loss to Richmond. That season, Quade also represented Victoria, widely regarded as one of the finest players in the game.

Retaining the captaincy for the 1978 and '79 seasons, Quade retired after playing nine games in 1980. However, his time in red and white was far from finished. Stewart appointed Quade chairman of selectors in 1981, and as reports emerged that South Melbourne was relocating to Sydney, Quade was appointed coach.

Quade took charge of the players who believed going to Sydney was the only viable option. John Rantall was appointed to train the players affiliated with the Keep South at South movement. Throughout the harrowing period, Quade and his family experienced unimaginable abuse and threats, with the saga taking an understandable toll.

"It had been explained to me that if the club did not move to Sydney, it would cease to exist, and I thought the shift of the club in its entirety would be better than rolling over and dying," Quade recalled.

"I had just bought a house in Caulfield and did not want to go to Sydney, although I knew if the move was stopped, the pin would have been pulled on the club. It was as simple as that."

Eventually, the Swans migrated north, and Quade coached the club's first home game in Sydney against Melbourne in Round 1, 1982. The pressure to succeed intensified as the game drew closer, and Quade felt that more than anyone. The team rose to the occasion, though, saluting by 29 points. Those pioneers persevered through astonishingly challenging circumstances and laid the platform for today's robust national competition.

Quade stepped away from coaching in 1984. Yet again, his services were called upon in other club areas. He returned in 1989 as the chairman of selectors, and in 1993, Quade accepted an invitation from chairman Richard Colless to join the club's board of directors. In 2008, after 38 years of selfless contribution, Quade retired from official Sydney Swans duties.

"To have Rick not involved in some formal capacity after all this time is going to feel very strange," Colless said. "The term legend is bandied about very freely, but there is actually no question in the extraordinary history of our club that Rick Quade is one of the true legends."

"He has been an outstanding player, leader, coach and administrator. He is one of the most selfless people that I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. Without him, we would not exist today."

In 2022, the Sydney Swans chose Quade as the club's number one ticket holder, and his connection to the club remains strong. Upon retiring as a director in 2008, he said, "It has been a great honour to have been involved with a club that has such a fantastic culture, and I'm proud when people talk of the top teams in Australian sport and the Swans are invariably mentioned right up the top of the list."