Former Sydney co-captain Brett Kirk has lauded the transforming powers of Australian Rules football after winning the Madden Medal.

Kirk, whose 241 AFL games for the Swans included co-captaining their 2005 premiership, became the fourth recipient of an award honouring the newly-retired player judged to have contributed the most both on and off-field.

The 34-year-old, a two-time Sydney best-and-fairest, said the friendships and values he had developed throughout his AFL career meant more than any footballing feats.

"It's about the type of person you are when you leave the game ... when I first started, I'm not sure if I was there yet, but through the growth and what footy's given me I've been really fortunate," he said.

Kirk, who persevered through twice being rejected by the Swans before making his debut, and was known more for his courage than his skill, said those attributes stemmed largely from his father's example.

"My dad was playing footy about the age of 17, he'd played a few senior games, it was the end of the year, a new season starts, a new coach comes in and tells my dad he can't play senior footy because he's only got one hand," Kirk said.

"My dad basically tells him to stick it up his arse and he gets recruited to a country team called Burrumbuttock Swans.

"This is where my love of the red and white started ... I'd just immerse myself in the smell of the linament and sit around the players after the game, climb trees, kick footies, sit with my dad and his mates and just listen to stories."

Kirk said the most important role in his life was to instill similar values in his own children.

He has three girls and a boy, all aged six or under.

"When my little boy started Auskick I told him `You don't have to be the best, you have to try your hardest.'

"(Then), when I was playing, I'd walk out the door and he'd be telling me, `Dad, just try your hardest, you don't have to be the best,' I said `Mate, that's all I've been doing.'"

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