Footy for Maddie

Purple flooded Etihad Stadium on July 8 as the Maddie’s Match between St Kilda and Richmond took place to raise money to find a cure for Bone Marrow Failure Syndrome.

Maddie Riewoldt, former St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt’s sister and Richmond forward Jack Riewoldt’s cousin, died of the syndrome, also called aplastic anaemia, in 2015.

St Kilda players replaced their usual tri-colour uniform with Maddie’s favourite colour purple at their Round 16 match.

The Coventry and Lockett signs at either side of the stadium were changed to “Maddie” and “Riewoldt” with purple backgrounds and Maddie’s favourite animal elephant.

More than 47,000 people attended the match and $200,000 has been raised for Maddie Riewoldt’s Vision, a charity founded by the Riewoldt family to fund research in finding new treatments for the syndrome.

Nick Riewoldt surpassed the AFL record previously held by ruckman Gary Dempsey with a chest mark five minutes into the second quarter of the game.