Essendon great Tim Watson says Neale Daniher had to overcome his headstrong attitude in MND fight

West Australian

04-06-2025

Neale Daniher has had to conquer a headstrong attitude to fight his brave battle against motor neurone disease, says former teammate and close friend Tim Watson.
AFL great Watson says the honesty with which his former Essendon teammate has spoken about his health plight — and his resolve not to let it dictate his life —is why the Big Freeze has been such a success.
The annual fundraiser, centred around the King's Birthday clash between a side Daniher coached to a grand final, Melbourne, and one of its fierce rivals, Collingwood, has raised more than $115 million in just over a decade.
Heading into the 11th Big Freeze on Monday, Watson revealed why Daniher, the 2025 Australian of the Year, had become such an icon.
'I think because of his authenticity. I think people saw that this was something that was real —this person wasn't doing anything for himself. He was doing something for a cause,' Watson told The Nightly.
'I think that resonated with people. In a world where there's so much manufacturing of image, I think people could see that this bloke was 100 per cent authentic and real. And he did it with humour as well — he was self-deprecating.
'The way that he framed it as 'slaying the beast', the way he spoke just appealed to people, and they all just wanted to jump on board the cause.'
Watson said the Bombers' youngest-ever captain (1982) never shied away from the challenges and evolved as a person during his MND fight.
'He was very headstrong,' Watson said.
'He had a lot of setbacks in his own career. There's something about him. There's this different Neale that has appeared with this. He's been a remarkable human being. I think it's just astounding how he's conducted himself.'
'I think it's about the positivity, about the way that he's spun it,' Watson said.
After being diagnosed in 2013 with the incurable disease, which degenerates motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord robbing the sufferer of the ability to move and talk, Daniher has been determined to find a cure.
'Even yesterday, in his address to Melbourne, it wasn't about 'woe is me' or dwelling on the negative, but saying, 'what's something positive I can do?' No matter how miserable it might look, how can I spin that around?
'He's definitely done that and demonstrated that to everybody — that no matter what the diagnosis might be and how poorly he felt at times … I think it did take him a while when he was first diagnosed to find some sort of way of dealing with it internally. And then the way that he's been able to do that publicly — I think he's just been like a beacon of optimism and inspiration for so many people.'
Daniher's playing career was derailed by injuries that saw him miss out on playing in Essendon's flag-winning teams of 1984 and 1985. He did finally win a flag with the Bombers as an assistant coach in 1993.
He features on tonight's episode of Unfiltered on Channel 7 , where he shares a rare insight into the lowest point of his career and the personal news that got him 'out of his funk.'
The interview was conducted over several weeks, with Hamish McLachlan and Daniher exchanging text messages. Daniher responded using his eye-gaze machine, which makes his voice sound like it used to.
Daniher played 66 games in three years for Essendon between 1979 and 1981, but injuries restricted him to just 16 more before he retired.
Essendon were the reigning premiers, and Daniher had dreams of lifting the premiership cup that in 1985 when disaster struck in mid-week game.
'Footy gives you great highs and tragic lows, that's for sure. The lowest I felt as a player would have been in 1985,' Daniher said.
'I was making another comeback after two ACL knee injuries and the Bombers were the reigning premiers. I had just made my way back into the team.
'We had a mid-season competition involving interstate teams. I was asked to back up and play in Adelaide. In retrospect, that was a dumb idea. I wasn't ready to play three games in seven days.
'During the second quarter, I got caught in a pack, landed awkwardly, and did my knee again. This time it was my good knee. I was lying on a cold floor with ice on my knee in foreign rooms, on my own, as the sounds of the game continued without me.
'I knew my playing career was done at the elite level, and my crack at September — and maybe a flag — was over.'
Daniher added that the impending birth of his first child helped him get out of the injury heartbreak.
'What broke me out of the funk was that I had married Jan earlier that year. Not much later, we received news that we would have our first child, Lauren. That definitely helped me realise that life was more than the number on my back.'
Watson said being able to be hear his own voice would be terrific for his mate.
'I think it must be really great for him because of the frustration when you can't speak. For his words to be delivered in the way they can be — it must be a great thing for him. It might just alleviate some of that frustration,' he said.
Watson was one of the first sliders to plunge into the icy waters, which has now become a rite of passage for sporting figures and celebrities during the Big Freeze.
He said he didn't have any great words of advice for the 2025 sliders announced so far: Peter Daicos, Matt Shirvington, Ariarne Titmus, Mark Taylor, Matt Nable, and Liz Watson.
'Nothing really prepares people for how cold it feels when you first land,' he said.
'It awakens every sense, but it's over in the blink of an eye too. It's a really great experience.'
Melbourne will be up against it in upsetting the red-hot Pies, but Watson said the Demons, coming off a loss to St Kilda, would 'rise to the occasion.'
'It's a big game. It doesn't really matter where they are on the ladder,' Watson said.
'There's a lot of tradition and rivalry associated with this game, and the fact that it means so much beyond the football field as well. It's celebrating something bigger than football.
'Melbourne will be trying to do the best they possibly can — not just for Neale, but for the game itself.'
Unfiltered
with Hamish McLachlan featuring football legend and
FIGHTMND
Founder, Neale Daniher 9.30pm straight after The Front Bar on Seven and 7plus.
COVERAGE OF THE BIG FREEZE STARTS 2PM MONDAY AEDT ON 7 AND 7PLUS
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