St Kilda Champion Nick Riewoldt has been recognised for his immense contribution on and off the field, receiving the AFL Players’ Association Madden Medal on Monday night.
The Madden Medal is awarded to a recently retired player who has not only excelled in his football
Riewoldt’s football CV stacks up against some of the very best to ever wear the red, white and black.
The 35-year-old won six Trevor Barker Awards and was named All-Australian on five occasions across a career that spanned 336 games and yielded 718 goals.
He is also St Kilda's longest-serving captain, having led the club on 220 occasions - the third most in AFL/VFL history.
In between his debut against Adelaide midway through 2001 and his final appearance in the last round of last year, Riewoldt completed a Bachelor of Exercise Science and Business (
After his younger sister passed away from aplastic anaemia in 2015, Riewoldt and his family founded Maddie Riewoldt’s Vision to raise funds and awareness for bone marrow failure syndromes.
Riewoldt said it was an honour to receive the prestigious award, particularly given the field of nominees included Leigh Montagna, Jobe Watson, Sam Mitchell, Bob Murphy, Matt Priddis, Drew Petrie, Andrew Swallow, Matthew Boyd and Tom Lonergan.
“To receive any award which is voted on and overseen by your peers is a great honour, and to win one which also bears the Madden name is especially significant,” Riewoldt said.
“Both Simon and Justin Madden achieved incredibly high standards in both their football and professional careers and have served as great motivation for hundreds of our alumni.
“I always believed that my actions on the field offered an insight into who I was as a person, and while incredibly important to me, I didn't want to be defined by them.
"Rather, I wanted to utilise the skills that football helped me develop on a platform that transcended sport.”
