Neale Francis Daniher (born 15 February 1961) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was later the coach of the Melbourne Football Club between 1998 and 2007, and also held coaching positions with Essendon, Fremantle and West Coast. His brothers, Terry, Anthony and Chris, also played for Essendon. Daniher was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2014 and is now known as a prominent campaigner for medical research. Early life and childhood Daniher was born the third child of James "Jim" Daniher and Edna Daniher (née Erwin) on 15 February 1961 at West Wyalong Base Hospital. He attended St Joseph's Catholic School, Ungarie for his primary education before going to St Patrick's College in Goulburn and later Assumption College, Kilmore, where he finished Year 12. He then went to the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University, where he learned about the emerging technology of the 1980s such as computers. It was during his childhood that Daniher showed his love for sport, namely Australian rules football, playing in the Northern Riverina Football League (NRFL) on Saturdays while playing rugby league at school carnivals. During his time in the NRFL he won several best and fairest awards before going to college, where he played both Australian rules football and rugby union. In 1978 both the South Melbourne and Essendon football clubs approached Daniher as a player. After a legal battle between the two clubs, Essendon won the right to recruit Daniher as South Melbourne had signed a contract which said that Essendon had this right due to South Melbourne trading Terry Daniher to Essendon in exchange for Neville Fields. VFL/AFL playing career Essendon From 1979 to 1990, Daniher played for Essendon in the VFL/AFL, playing only 82 games due to several knee injuries. He was appointed captain in 1982 but never led the side due to injury. On 1 September 1990 Daniher, alongside his three brothers, made history when they became the first quartet of brothers to play for the same team in a single VFL/AFL game. In the same year, the brothers also played together on 22 May 1990 in a State of Origin match for New South Wales versus Victoria. Daniher retired at the end of the 1990 season but then played for Werribee in the Victorian Football Association in 1991. Coaching career Essendon Football Club assistant