UNITED THEY FROZE

AFL COACHES TAKE PLUNGE

FOOTY legend and FightMND campaigner Neale Daniher issued a rousing pre-match speech to all 18 coaches before they took an icy plunge for charity. “Don’t give in,’’ he told them. “Never give up. “Give it all you’ve got.’’ It has been his constant message to anybody fighting motor neurone disease, but Melbourne Football Club chairman Glen Bartlett said it rang true for just about anyone. “The hope he gives to everybody fighting MND is really hope for anybody fighting anything,” he said.

All 18 AFL coaches helped mark Daniher’s last year as the face of FightMND’s Big Freeze at the ’ G yesterday.

Donations were nearing $2 million — a figure to be matched by the federal government.

Lions coach Chris Fagan took a tumble as he exited the pool, fearing he might have torn a hamstring.

But it was nothing, he said, compared to what his mate, Daniher, was going through.

The Saints’ Alan Richardson showed his devilish side, dressing up as the Herald Sun’s chief football writer, Mark Robinson. His suit, joked one commentator, might have even fit a little better.

The greatest cheer was reserved for game-day coach Nathan Buckley, who slipped into the water dressed in the uniform of Langwarrin firefighter Murray Swinton.

The Collingwood fan, 57, who has MND, held back a tear as he watched on with his family from the hallowed turf. “It has been sensational — to see all this support, it has been a very special moment for all of us,” he said.