DANIHER, Neale

Neale Daniher was developing into one of the best players of his era when injury cut his career short. He subsequently had one of the most interrupted careers in League history.

He was a superb half-back flanker who came to Essendon from Assumption College as part of the deal which saw Essendon's Neville Fields traded to South Melbourne in exchange for Terry Daniher and the as-yet unseen young Neale. It was a great deal for Essendon, made even better when Fields returned to Essendon a few years later.

His transfer to Essendon was one of the League's most complex. It involved the transfer of South Melbourne's Norm Goss to Hawthorn, Hawthorn's Peter Bennett and Bernie Jones to Essendon, Essendon's Neville Fields to South Melbourne, Terry and Neale to Essendon. It was a great deal for Essendon and was capped off when Fields returned to Essendon in 1981, although he only played another five games.

Daniher went about his business with a minimum of fuss and was so quiet on and off the field that it was inevitable that he'd be nicknamed "Rowdy".

He debuted in the seniors aged 18, and in his first three seasons he didn’t miss a game until injuring his knee in the final round of 1981. This injury plagued him for the remainder of his career.

In three short years Neale Daniher had already won the Club's Best First Year Player award and was awarded the League Recruit of the Year, represented Victoria in both 1980 and 1981, and won the Club's Best and Fairest in 1981. He also played in the Club's night premiership in 1981. He looked to have a brilliant future ahead of him.

Unfortunately in Round 22 1981, he injured his knee requiring a reconstruction. The severity of the injury was not known at that time and such was his maturity that he was made captain of Essendon for 1982, replacing Simon Madden. At the age of 21 he had become the youngest Essendon captain ever, however he was also the only captain never to lead his team onto the field.

He missed three complete seasons before coming back in 1985 but after only five games the same knee gave way again. It was assumed his career was over and again in 1987 the knee required a third reconstruction. But Daniher returned in 1989 and played 11 more games over two seasons before retiring for good.

In 1987 he was appointed assistant coach and also worked on video analysis for the Club. He is credited with identifying a key Carlton play at centre bounces which led to Essendon nullifying them in the 1993 Grand Final contributing to an Essendon victory.

He left Essendon to become assistant coach at Fremantle in 1995-1997 and then coached Melbourne from 1998 to 2007. The Demons made it to the 2000 Grand Final but were beaten by Neale's old side.

He became general manager of football operations at the West Coast Eagles in 2008 but stood down in 2013 when he was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease. He has since dedicated his life to educating Australians about the disease. He became co-founder and patron of the charity, Fight MND, which raises money for research into the disease.

He received a Member of the Order of Australia award in 2016 for his efforts in raising awareness of MND and raising funds to help find a cure for the disease. He was promoted to Officer of the Order of Australia in the 2021 Queen's Birthday Honours.

One of the approaches to the MCG has been named Daniher's Way.

History was made when he played with his brothers Terry, Anthony and Chris at Moorabin in 1990, the first time four brothers had played in the same side in the VFL/AFL history. They also played together on 22 May 1990 in a State of Origin match for New South Wales versus Victoria.

Neale Daniher was named at number 44 in the Champions of Essendon (2002). He was awarded AFL life membership in 2005.