Former Cats physiotherapist Madi Bennett has been cast into the spotlight on AFL football’s biggest stage.
Geelong star Gary Rohan had just run up the race of the MCG on his 150th league game when the stunning brunette planted a kiss on him.
About 100km south, in the seaside town of Ocean Grove, you might have heard the teeth of Rohan’s ex-wife grinding as Bennett cradled her precious babies.
It’s official: Gary Rohan and Madi Bennett after Friday night’s match
Physio Madi Bennett was spotted planting a kiss on Cat champ Gary Rohan on Friday night at the MCG after his 150th game
Rohan had been locked away in the AFL hub last year when he reportedly hooked up with Bennett after his marriage to Amie broke down.
Bennett had been flown cross-country to help Cats legend Gary Ablett Jnr see out his final season.
Bennett had been working as a physio at BodyLab Health and moonlighted as a Cats trainer and physio.
The Cats had been in impressive form despite the trying conditions seeing them shuffled across the country and kept in virtual isolation.
Rohan’s estranged wife Amie had given birth to the couple’s third child Sadie Rose in March that year.
Madi Bennett and the Rohan children on Friday night at the MCG
Gary Rohan and his childhood sweetheart, Amie, split up in June last year, three years after the death of their newborn twin Willow. Amie is pictured here with the former couple’s two children Bella and Sadie Rose
Their daughter Willow – who suffered from a fatal neural tube defect with no cure known as anencephaly – had died just five hours after she was born years earlier.
The Cats had trounced Gold Coast Suns and Brisbane last July when Bennett was first spotted inside the Cats’ hub.
Ablett – nicknamed the ‘Son of God’ – paid tribute to Bennett for helping him get on the field in what would be his last ever season.
The veteran footballer had rolled his ankle years earlier and had found relief at the hands of Bennett.
‘To be honest I could play the game without them being strapped, but Mads does such a good job, why not,’ he said at the time.
Gary Rohan and Madi Bennett. The Cats defeated Richmond in the Grand Final replay on Friday
By Bennett’s own account, she had a keen interest in helping people suffering from ‘headaches’ and ‘pain in the neck’.
‘It’s something we can usually get good results from,’ she said in a video spruiking her talents.
By the end of September, the detectives over at BigFooty.com had all but announced Bennett had become that very pain for Rohan’s wife.
Those that supposedly knew his ex-wife suggested she had become aware after being told by Rohan to stay at home with the kids rather than join him at the hub.
While Ablett returned home to Victoria to support his wife with their sick child in July, Rohan played on.
Amie was notably absent when many of the club’s partners and children joined the players inside their Gold Coast isolation hub in August.
Gary Rohan and Madi Bennett after the big match at the MCG on Friday
She would later reveal it was about this time that she knew her marriage was over.
By November, word of the split had made mainstream media, with reports Bennett had also been ‘let go’ by Geelong.
Just last month, Amie went public with her heartbreak over the split with Rohan, saying it was worse than the pain of losing her baby daughter just five hours after birth.
‘Last year was hard for me and every single day I showed up for my girls,’ she told the Move Your Mind podcast.
‘Every single day I got out of bed and faced the day ahead of me.
‘The days after my marriage breakdown were some of the hardest days of my life, harder than when we lost Willow.’
This photo from footy star Gary Rohan’s Instagram page on Easter Saturday set tongues wagging
On Easter Saturday, Rohan shared a photo of himself with Bennett and his children while celebrating the first birthday of his youngest daughter.
At the time, it remained unclear who the mystery woman actually was.
On Friday night, there was no doubt she was Rohan’s new partner as he led the Cats out at the MCG.
Later on he posted images of himself and Bennett post game.
After his obvious display of affection for Bennett, TV commentators Brian Taylor and Jonathan Brown thanked the champion for sharing the special moment with his kids.
Rohan had just played one of his best games of the year as he helped Geelong trounce the team that had denied them Grand Final glory last year.
Hours later, Amie posted videos of her together with their children.
Madi Bennett gives Gary Rohan a kiss on Friday night at the MCG
On Sunday, she took to social media again to tell her 45,000-plus followers what she believed to be the true meaning of life and love.
‘Seeing a real life mini version of yourself running around and having your heart want to explode right out of your chest from the amount of love you’re feeling – that’s what being a mum has taught me,’ she wrote.
‘It’s a love like no other … And realising right there in that very moment that this is the true meaning of life itself.
‘My love I have for my girls is like nothing I’ve ever experienced and I truly am so grateful for them.’