Neale DaniherNeale Daniher AO was born in 1961 in Ungarie, a tiny town in New South Wales, the third of eleven children. A talented all-round sportsman, Neale's passion was Australian Rules; he played for Essendon Football Club in a promising but injury-plagued creer between 1979 and 1990. He was part of the famous Daniher football dynasty: four brothers from the bush who played a combined 752 VFL/AFL games. In football, his off-field achievements are in coaching and administration. He was senior coach at Melbourne for 10 seasons, inaugural CEO of the AFL Coaches Association, and general manager of football operations with the West Coast Eagles. Neale co-founded FightMND in 2014 after he was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease. The charity raises awareness of MND and has invested over $130 million into medical research to find a cure. 'The Beast' takes two lives every day in Australia. Neale was originally awarded a Member of the Order of Australia in 2016 for his tireless work with FightMND, and in 2021 he was elevated to Officer of the Order of Australia. In 2025, Neale was named Australian of the Year. His bestselling memoir When All is Said and Done was published in 2019 and won ABIA Biography Book of the Year. Neale and his wife, Jan, live in Melbourne and are the proud parents of Lauren, Luke, Bec and Ben, and loving grandparents to six children. To find out more about Neale Daniher please visit www.nealedaniher.com Read More Read Less