Family, friends, members of the AFL community and dignitaries are attending the service to remember the AFL legend, MND campaigner and former Australia of the Year.
A funeral is being held for AFL legend, motor neurone disease campaigner and former Australian of the Year Neale Daniher . A state funeral has begun at the MCG for AFL/VFL legend and motor neurone disease campaigner Neale Daniher .
Family, friends, members of the AFL community and dignitaries are attending the service just days after a record-breaking Big Freeze fundraiser for his charity, FightMND. The former footballer, coach, Australian and Victorian of the Year, and motor neurone disease campaigner died at his home in Melbourne on May 25 at the age of 65. His family accepted the Victorian government's offer of a state funeral which is now underway at the MCG.
A large crowd of mourners have gathered at the stadium to pay their respects to Daniher. Daniher played 82 games for Essendon in the AFL/VFL from 1979 to 1990 and later coached Melbourne for more than 220 games from 1998 to 2007, including guiding the Demons to the grand final in 2000. After being diagnosed with MND in 2013, he threw himself into raising awareness of the disease and fundraising for research, establishing the FightMND charity.
Its signature annual event, the Big Freeze, is now in its 12th year, has raised tens of millions of dollars through the sale of beanies and by plunging a long list of celebrities into an icy pool at the MCG. Ahead of the state funeral, they asked that donations be made to the charity in lieu of flowers.
Daniher's efforts to raise funds and draw attention to MND saw him named Victorian of the Year in 2019 and Australian of the Year in 2025.
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