West Coast Eagles and Essendon to come together as every AFL game to host Neale Daniher tribute

The AFL world will come together across every game this weekend as they honour the life and legacy of Neale Daniher following his death on Monday.

Daniher passed away on Monday at age 65, following his long fight with Motor Neurone Disease that saw him dedicate the final years of his life to the FightMND foundation and being the force behind the Big Freeze at the ‘G’, which has raised over $100m.

While tributes have flooded in from across the football landscape, the league will be able to come together in tribute this round, with the AFL revealing that a Neale Daniher ceremony will take place before all seven games.

According to reports, all games will have a pre-game address and hold a moment of silence while both teams line up before the first ball-up.

That will include West Coast’s game against Essendon at Optus Stadium on Sunday, which will have extra feeling for both clubs.

As a player, Daniher was best-and-fairest as well as a former captain for the Bombers and was regarded as a huge talent whose career was cut short by injury, playing only 82 games.

“Neale will forever be a beloved Bomber and is one of the most remarkable people our game has ever produced,” President Andrew Walsh said on Monday.

“Neale came to Windy Hill in 1979 as one of the most gifted young footballers in the country. What followed was an 82-match playing career defined as much by courage in the face of injury as it was by brilliance on the field.

“Neale once said, ‘When all is said and done, more is said than done.’ He spent the rest of his life on the ‘doing’ side of that ledger.”

After coaching Melbourne, Daniher was essential to helping the Fremantle Dockers get up and running as an inaugural assistant coach before becoming the General Manager of Football at West Coast, a role he held until his diagnosis in 2013.