“Agonising Last Conversations” Leave AFL Fans Heartbroken
Bill Guest and Chris Fagan, Neale Daniher’s closest friends, had a final, emotional conversation.
The icon still retained his sense of humor, but ‘I knew when we left, we would never see Neale again – it was so sad.’
Some of Neale Daniher’s closest friends shared fond memories of the Australian icon, who died on Monday at age 65 after a 13-year battle with motor neuron disease.
The grief that permeated the AFL was mixed with pride in his fight, not only for himself, for overcoming dismal statistics, but also for his FightMND career.
Over $100 million has been raised, and millions more will be added to the total when the Big Freeze event takes place again ahead of the King’s Birthday match between beloved Melbourne and Collingwood next month.
Daniher’s health had deteriorated in recent weeks, just as the latest knitwear collection was being launched and promotional activities were being intensified to coincide with the event.
Brisbane coach Chris Fagan said he would forever be grateful for the opportunity to reconnect with his close friend Daniher earlier last month at the MCG Stadium.
Fagan was given the chance to start his AFL career in Melbourne by Daniher, and he gained confidence from Daniher.
“Today is a very emotional day. He gave me the opportunity to get involved in the AFL rugby,” Fagan shared with Channel 7’s The Agenda Setters.
“We became close friends, and our families became close friends too; our children often play together. For me personally, coming from outside, being quite unknown, he made me feel like I belonged, that I had an important role. He helped me so much in building my confidence… I really enjoyed the 10 years I worked with him in Melbourne.”
“We’ve remained very close friends since I graduated in Melbourne and he came to the West Coast. We see each other regularly.”
In their last encounter, Daniher proved he still retained his footballing instincts.
“About five or six weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to be able to watch Melbourne play the Gold Coast Suns at MCG Stadium because we were going to play Melbourne a few weeks later,” Fagan said.
“I looked over and saw Neale in his wheelchair, so I was able to go over and chat with him a little.”
“I’m incredibly grateful for that, because I didn’t realize it would be my last chance, but he was there, watching his beloved Dees and telling me we might have some trouble with them in a week or two — and he was absolutely right about that.”
Daniher’s Demons team won spectacularly by two points against the Lions.
Fagan had displayed all the Big Freeze beanies in his office at the Springfield headquarters in Brisbane, and he sat admiring them Monday morning after the Lions’ heavy loss to GWS last weekend.
“On days when I’m feeling a little down and sad, I just look at those beanies and tell myself, ‘Cheer up, follow his example, don’t feel sorry for yourself, keep going,’” he said.
“I looked through them today after what happened yesterday.”
Bill Guest was the first chairman of FightMND and previously a board member in Melbourne.
He was one of Daniher’s closest friends until the end of his life.
“I saw him on Thursday afternoon, and it was really a goodbye, it was sad,” Guest said.
“I walked into Neale’s living room and saw him with wires everywhere, clearly that was the last time I’d ever see him.”
“He still had his sense of humor, still cracked jokes. I was with (FightMND co-founder) Pat Cunningham and I knew when we left, we’d never see Neale again. It’s so sad.”
“Even today when Jenny called this morning, you’re still in tears even though you know it’s going to happen and we’ve known it for a long time. But that doesn’t change who he was and how you feel about it.”
Mr. Guest said he would remember Daniher as someone “carefree, incredibly honest and incredibly stubborn.”
