The former player and AFL coach Neale Daniher has died, 13 years after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
The 65-year-old’s family issued a statement on Monday confirming Daniher had passed away at home.
“From day one, Neale was a fighter,” the statement read. “His determination was unmatched – choosing every day to find opportunity where others might only see challenge, and taking the fight to ‘the Beast’ with everything he had.”
The AFL CEO, Andrew Dillon, led the tributes and said Daniher’s legacy would extend far beyond his time in football as a player and coach.
“The passing of Neale is a devastating loss not only for everyone fortunate enough to know him, but for everyone in our community for the selflessness that he represented,” Dillon said.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the opposition leader, Angus Taylor, also paid tribute in speeches in parliament on Monday. Albanese praised Daniher’s “selflessness and bravery” while Taylor said he lived his life after the diagnosis, “never waving a white flag and carrying on with his customary wit and grace”.
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, confirmed plans for a state service to honour Daniher.
Daniher, along with his three brothers, played for Essendon, where he won the Bombers’ best and fairest in 1981 before being named captain for the following season. In 1990 he played twice with all three of his brothers – Terry, Anthony and Chris – the first time and only time four brothers had played together in a VFL/AFL game.
Injuries cut his playing career short and he moved into coaching, first as a senior assistant at Essendon and then at Fremantle. He went on to take on the head coach role at Melbourne between 1998 and 2007, taking charge of 223 games in total – the third-most in the club’s history.
He also served as general manager of football at West Coast.
“Across every part of his life, Neale left his mark,” the family statement said. “Many knew him as ‘coach’ or ‘reverend’ during his time at the Dees, while at the Dons he was respected as a fierce and calculating player, with a brilliant football mind.
“He was a natural leader, someone people were drawn to and looked up to. But beyond all of that, he was a loving husband and dad … a music lover and the one with the biggest laugh in the room.
“He was known for his quick wit, his humour, and his ability to bring people together – qualities that defined him far more than any title could.”
Daniher’s legacy is “woven into every fabric of the Melbourne Football Club”, the club said.
“It is impossible to encapsulate in words the impact of Neale Daniher,” the Dees president, Steven Smith, said. “His courage transcended the football field, and his determination inspired an entire country.
“Neale was not driven by personal motivation, he was driven by helping others, right until the very end. He was a true leader and the definition of what it means to be selfless.”
The Essendon president, Andrew Welsh, said Daniher would “forever be a beloved Bomber” and was “one of the most remarkable people our game has ever produced”.
After his MND diagnosis, Daniher became a prominent campaigner for medical research into the disease. He co-founded the charity FightMND, which among other initiatives spearheads the Big Freeze, an annual fundraising and awareness campaign that has raised more than $100m for research projects.
In 2016 he was recognised by the Australian government for his service to the community with an AM and in 2021 he was awarded an AO. Last year he was named Australian of the Year for his advocacy work.
He was also a life member of the AFL and a past recipient of the John Kennedy award for distinguished service to the game.
