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Footy cult hero Mark Riddell heartbreakingly broke down in tears while he opened up about how his daughter suffers from a rare genetic condition that affects only three other children in Australia.
The beloved hooker, who was nicknamed ‘piggy’, enjoyed a 10-year career in the NRL, joined rugby league legend Mark Geyer on his Life in 5ive podcast to lift the lid on his career and his life after footy.
The NRL great hasn’t strayed too far away from the footy world, with Riddell joining up with his former club, St George’s NRLW side, last year as an assistant coach. In September, he was also appointed as the Dragons’ NRLW and female pathways recruitment lead.
The 44-year-old and his family enjoyed a trip to Fiji last year, with Geyer presenting the former hooker, who also played for Parramatta, Wigan and the Sydney Roosters, with an image of himself, his wife and three kids, Harry, William and Ava.
‘I love this photo,’ Riddell said to Geyer. ‘I thought it encompassed my whole family perfectly.’
Riddell met his wife, Karli, 20 years ago, revealing they had met at the Rosehill Races.
NRL great Paul Riddell (pictured with his partner Karli) has opened up on his daughter's genetic condition
He then began to speak about his children, before pointing out his daughter, Ava, to Geyer.
‘That’s my daughter Ava. She’s eight,’ Riddell said.
‘Lovely life having daughters, isn’t it?’ Geyer added.
‘Yeah...’ Riddell said, before heartbreakingly welling up with tears.
The Dragons great paused for a moment, covering his eyes, before adding: 'I knew this would happen...’
‘My daughter Ava, she’s got a severe disability,’ he said while wiping tears from his eyes.
‘It’s known as Ogdens Syndrome. Just to give a brief sort of description of it: Pregnancy, everything was fine. She was born and everything was normal. We had probably 12 months of just going in and out of the hospital. Karli had spent three to four months living in the children’s hospital there.
‘No one knew what it was and they used to call her [Ava] the “Mystery Baby”. She wasn’t able to swallow properly; she had a number of things. She kept on catching pneumonia; she had a number of heart things too. We only found out around three years ago that it was Ogden Syndrome.
The St George Illawarra star heartbreakingly broke down in tears while speaking with Mark Geyer about his daughter's condition
Riddell (pictured with Karli) then revealed just how rare Ava's condition is, stating: ‘She’s one of four children in Australia and one of 120 in the world who have got Ogden Syndrome. That’s how rare it is'
Riddell enjoyed a 10-year career at the top level, notably making 92 appearances for the Dragons, before going on to play for Parramatta, Wigan and the Sydney Roosters
‘It is a relatively new Syndrome. What it is, is in your chromosome makeup, one letter is a T and it should be a C. And that’s literally it. It doesn’t come from mum and it doesn’t come from dad.’
Riddell then revealed just how rare the condition is, stating: ‘She’s one of four children in Australia and one of 120 in the world who have got Ogden Syndrome. That’s how rare it is.’
‘She’s the love of your life,’ Geyer said, before lauding Riddell for his courage to speak so openly about his daughter.
Riddell responded: ‘Ah, 100 per cent. That’s a special photo for that reason.’
Riddell inspiringly added: ‘I think for me as a dad and she’s eight now, you sort of bottle everything up. You think you’re alright and you say you’re alright. I personally need to talk more about it and feel more comfortable talking about it.
‘She’s really healthy in herself,’ he said before adding. ‘Hopefully Ava will go on to live a long and healthy life.’
He revealed that Ava’s condition was a big factor in why he opted to take up a role with the Dragons’ NRLW side.
‘That’s probably one of the big reasons why I’m back doing what I’m doing with the girls in the rugby league space,’ he added.
After hanging up his boots in 2011, Riddell would go on to work in the media and become an assistant coach for the Dragons NRLW side
‘She [Ava] will never be able to do that, play footy or sort of things like that.
‘She can’t do it. But if I can help the other girls achieve their dreams, then I’ve done the right thing.’
The iconic footy player is perhaps best known for the try he scored against North Queensland back in 2002. Riddell would race his way through the Cowboys’ defence before jumping the fence, taking a seat among the fans in the stands at the WIN Stadium, and hilariously clapping his own try.
During the podcast, he also lifted the lid on how he landed his job with the NRLW side at St George.
It came after he had taken up a coaching role with the New South Wales women’s team.
‘Way back in 2013, I coached the New South Wales State Challenge team and it was what ended up with me going back to the Dragons,’ he said.
‘I actually gave Sammy Bremner her NSW debut. She’s now the Dragons' head of football for the NRLW squad. Sammy gave me a phone call, her and Nathan Cross, and that’s how it all eventuated.
Reflecting on how far the women’s game has come, he revealed that back in 2013, the New South Wales side had stayed in a caravan park in Penrith before a match.
‘It’s great to see how far the game has come. We did as much as we could to get as much exposure. We went on the footy show, went on a couple of other footy shows that were on at the time, went on 2GB, just trying to give the girls a bit of profile. And it’s come full circle.’
