A heartbroken Terry Daniher has revealed that his hero brother, Neale, would not want people to be “sooking” about his death. It is classic Daniher ‘get on with it’ practicality, so evident in Neale and also his older brother Terry, born from a time when the family worked as wheat and sheep farmers.
“He wouldn’t want us sobbing and sooking,” Terry, who is not only Neale’s beloved big brother but also a former Essendon teammate, told 7NEWS. “He’d want us to get on with the job, keep creating the awareness about MND and keep working at trying to find a cure for this damn disease.”
From Humble Beginnings to National Hero
Neale Daniher was born on February 15, 1961, the second of four sons and one of 11 children of Jim and Edna Daniher, farmers near Ungarie in central New South Wales. From those humble, down-to-earth beginnings rose a man who became a hero to a nation, loved by all who met him.
On Tuesday, the day after his sad but inevitable death, tributes poured in from far and wide and from those who knew him well. He was remembered as a champion on the field and a hero off it for his dedication to changing the lives of people with motor neurone disease.
Teammates and Friends Pay Tribute
Former teammate and the very first Big Freeze slider, Tim Watson, made a frank admission about how Neale had impacted his life. “He went from being a teammate to a friend, but ultimately he became my hero. I told him that one day ... ‘you’re a hero to me and you’re a hero to so many other people because of the way that you’ve met this challenge in life,’” Watson said. “I was in awe of him.”
After knee injuries cruelled his playing career at Essendon, Neale took over as coach of Melbourne. His straight-talking won him admirers straight away. Former superstar forward Garry Lyon recalled Neale’s first impression: “He came in and told us we were, by far and away, the worst football club in the competition. And then he just turned it and said, but we’ve got an opportunity to get to work.”
Former Melbourne star and captain Todd Viney said: “Apart from my father, really, he’s had the biggest influence of my life, even though he was only five years older than me.”
Fighting MND for 13 Years
None of his mates were surprised by the way he fought MND for 13 long years. Essendon premiership coach Kevin Sheedy, whose father died from the disease within two years, said: “He was so strong a person that it’s incredible. We all will look back and realise we lived in the realms of a very special person as a human being and caring for others.”
Melbourne captain Max Gawn, who has played in all the Big Freeze games, thought Neale was invincible. “It’s hit me all different ways over the last 24 hours. I’m starting to get that part in grief where I wish I gave him like one last cuddle,” Gawn said on Triple M. “I took him for granted a little bit. Like the fact that he’s been doing this for 12 years, you just thought he was going to be around forever.”
Calls to Pack the MCG for King’s Birthday
There are calls for 100,000 people to pack the MCG on King’s Birthday to celebrate Neale’s life and keep his legacy going. “I think it’s vitally important and I think they’ll pack the rafters at the MCG for this game,” Watson said. “The great thing that we can all do is make sure that we pass these stories on to the next generation of people so that in 50, 100 years, wherever down the track, we are still celebrating Neale Daniher and what he did for this country.”
The MCG and other public buildings will be bathed in blue light tonight to honour Neale Daniher, the first of many public memorials.
