May 25, 2026 — 3:26pmNeale Daniher, the champion VFL footballer who coached Melbourne and became the courageous figurehead of the battle against motor neurone disease, has died.The 65-year-old’s death was confirmed on Monday, just a fortnight before the King’s Birthday match between Melbourne and Collingwood which has become synonymous with his FightMND charity and Big Freeze fundraiser.FightMND, the charity Neale Daniher co-founded, has raised more than $100 million.AFL Photos via Getty ImagesHe was named Victorian of the Year in 2019 and Australian of the Year in 2025 because of his advocacy work, trying to find a cure for the disease he labelled “the beast”.The Daniher family released a statement on Monday afternoon.“We’re heartbroken to share that our much-loved husband, Dad and Poppy, Neale Daniher, passed away at home, surrounded by his family,” the statement said.“From day one, Neale was a fighter. His determination was unmatched - choosing every day to find opportunity where others might see only challenge, and taking the fight to the Beast with everything he had.“Even in the toughest times, he kept pushing forward, determined to land as many blows as he could against his toughest opponent, all with a cheeky grin and a sharp sense of humour that never left him.”Educated at Assumption College in Kilmore, where he established a mighty reputation as a schoolboy footballer, Daniher was the most talented footballer among one of the sport’s most famous families, although a knee injury cruelled his playing career with Essendon.One of 11 Daniher children raised at Ungarie in central New South Wales, he was zoned to South Melbourne (later to become Sydney) but played his first VFL game for Essendon in 1979 after a complicated trade saga also involving his older brother Terry.He won the Bombers best and fairest in 1981, at the age of just 20, despite suffering a serious knee injury in the final round.Such was his talent and leadership, the Bombers named him their captain for 1982. But he sadly struggled to overcome the injuries and never got to lead the team onto the field. In fact, he did not play a game for the next three seasons as the Bombers won back-to back premierships in 1984-85 with Terry Daniher as skipper.In total, he added just 16 games to his career tally in the nine seasons after 1981 for a total of 82 across 12 seasons, the last of which was in round 22 of the 1990 season, when he famously took the field alongside Terry and their younger brothers Anthony and Chris. It was the first and only time four brothers had played in the same team at the highest level, although the quartet did appear for NSW in a State of Origin game earlier that season.Melbourne captain Max Gawn with Neale Daniher last year.Eddie JimFollowing his playing days, he became an assistant coach to Kevin Sheedy at Essendon, and then at Fremantle before landing the senior job at Melbourne for the 1998 season.FILE PIC Age library hard copy . dated 16.8.1981. Essendon's Neale Daniher, right, after booting the late match-saving goal at Princes Park, looks up to see brother Terry Daniher (NO. 5) waving his congratulations.Fairfax Media A popular figure among Demons players and fans, he coached the club for 10 seasons, taking them to a grand final in 2000, when they lost to Sheedy’s powerful Bombers line-up.Daniher took a very public stance in his fight against MND after his diagnosis by launching the FightMND charity and its Big Freeze fundraiser – which exploded in popularity since its first incarnation more than a decade ago.The FightMND movement was started the year after Daniher’s diagnosis in 2013.Daniher joined forces with two other passionate campaigners – Dr Ian Davis, who was diagnosed with MND at age 33, and Pat Cunningham, the husband of Angie, who was also fighting the disease.“United by the same devastating reality, these three strangers met for the first time in a little cafe in Hawthorn. But they weren’t meeting to find comfort in their shared sorrow. They came to take the fight to MND and, together, came up with a plan to make it happen,” a blurb on the FightMND website says.“In November 2014, FightMND was born.“A small, humble organisation of three, two of whom had a terminal illness. They often joked that it wasn’t the most sustainable business model.“But their vision was clear. They would refuse to let MND remain in the shadows. They would push for better funding, better research and real progress.“Daniher is survived by his wife Jan and their adult children Lauren, Luke, Ben and Bec. In recent years, as his ability to communicate became compromised because of his illness, Bec became the leading campaigner and voice of MND.From our partners