Play on (A portrait of Neale Daniher)

Neale Daniher AO (b. 1961), former Australian rules footballer and coach, grew up in Ungarie, New South Wales, and was signed to play for Essendon in the VFL in 1979. After ten injury-plagued seasons he retired from playing to become an assistant coach. He was appointed senior coach of the Melbourne Demons in 1998, guiding the club to the Grand Final against Essendon in 2000. He retired from coaching in 2007. Diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) in 2013, Daniher co-founded the organisation FightMND 'to take the fight right up to it'. He has since become the face of The Big Freeze, a fundraising event held annually when Melbourne play Collingwood at the MCG. Daniher was named an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2021 for his work with FightMND, which to date has raised over $50 million for research into treatments for the disease.

Michael Peck formed his idea for this portrait after reading Daniher's memoir, in which he calls MND 'The Beast': 'an ugly piece of gear, hairy and dark, like a huge hybrid of a blowfly and a moth'. Peck depicted Daniher wearing a FightMND beanie, and Daniher wanted the portrait to show his arms, as they are where his condition is most evident. 'It was not comfortable for Neale to sit like this,' Peck says, 'but he was determined to capture the right image. This alone is testament to his strength and determination.'

Commissioned with funds provided by The Calvert-Jones Foundation, The Sid and Fiona Myer Family Foundation and Dr David Thurin AM and Lisa Thurin 2021
© Michael Peck