The Danihers: NSW’s First Family of Football

True Blues – Neale, Anthony, Edna, Jim, Chris and Terry Daniher NSW v Victoria 1990. All will be inducted into the inaugural NSW Australian Football Hall of Fame on Friday, 3 May.

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By Neil Cordy

Edna Daniher is having a big week.

On Anzac Day she turned 90 and celebrated with a party of 78 family members in Wagga. This Friday she’ll be inducted into the NSW Australian Football Hall of Fame.

It’s a coronation of NSW Footy’s first family with Edna being named alongside her late husband Jim and her four sons Terry, Neale, Anthony and Chris.

“We had a big celebration the day after Anzac Day,” Terry said.

It’s a Daniher tradition which has been going on for decades and wasn’t held up by the numerous Anzac Day clashes against Collingwood at the MCG.

“We always had to have a cake ready for mum to blow the candles out,” Terry said.

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Terry and his brothers were the ones in the limelight during their playing careers but Jim and Edna who were the wind beneath their wings.

“They are the ones who should be inducted first,” Terry said. “They were the educators and the ones who gave us the opportunity. They gave us a clip under the ears occasionally to keep us on the straight and narrow.”

The directions started early in the boys’ careers. In 1973 Terry played in the centre with Jim at full-back in Ungarie’s preliminary final loss to Lake Cargelligo. At 45 it was Jim’s last season, unfortunately a shoulder injury finished him up as Terry went on to win the premiership the following year (1974).

Edna didn’t play but was a great support to Jim and unofficial coach for the boys. “I remember a day when Anthony was playing under 12s and mum became so frustrated with him she went out onto the ground at the quarter time huddle and said: ‘For god’s sake Anthony get out and have a go’,” Terry recalled.

“I think she brought out some old John Kennedy and said: ‘Do something’.”

Another legendary coach, Kevin Sheedy, coached all four boys at the Bombers and knows the contribution of Jim and Edna better than most. “It’s a great decision and a first ever,” Sheedy said of the inductions. “Edna had 11 kids, that’s contribution enough. They didn’t fall out of the sky”.

“The parents of four boys who played in the AFL together, it’s incredible. Jim was a leader of Aussie Rules and I remember at a Essendon v Swans practice match Jim going around raising money for junior footy in Wagga.”

Neale made his contribution to Ungarie’s premiership successes when he returned home from Assumption College to play in the 1978 grand final. Named as 19th man he came on and booted three last quarter goals to help Ungarie overcome an 18-point three quarter time deficit to beat Four Corners. First cousins Pat, Rod and John Daniher were also in the team as were their fathers in the premierships of the 1950s.

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THE BACK STORY TO JIM AND EDNA DANIHER

Jim’s father, Jim Snr, moved to Ungarie in the 1920s and helped set up the football club he would play for the Ungarie Magpies.

Jim Junior won three Northern Riverina Football League best and fairest awards in 1949, 1956 and 1959. He also led the Magpies to five premierships in 1950, 1956, and 1959-61.

He was ably supported by his brothers Jack and Leo, Leo won the League best and fairest in 1951.

The Daniher boys were tight and proved it when the three brothers married three sisters.

Riverina football was one of the main beneficiaries with Jack and Leo both producing three footballers each. Leo’s son Pat played in Coolamon’s 1983 premiership.

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1990 NSW DEFEAT VICTORIA BY 10 POINTS

The epic 1990 NSW win over Victoria wasn’t the only time Jim and Edna saw the boys play on the same team. Later that year the brothers lined up for the Bombers in the round 22 win over St Kilda to become the first quartet of brothers to play for the same team in a VFL/AFL match.

Anthony played 233 (118 Essendon, 115 Sydney) games and earned All Australian honours in 1991. His son Joe also won All Australian selection in 2017 playing for Essendon and is currently playing for Brisbane. His older brother Darcy played six games for the Bombers in 2008 and 2009.

Chris played 124 games for Essendon including the 1990 grand final and the 1993 premiership. He returned to Ungarie where he continued to play into his 50s, he pulls the boots on occasionally when numbers are low.

Anthony and Chris Daniher are both included on the list of NSW’s greatest players.

Jim and Edna’s sons played a combined total of 752 VFL/AFL games.

“It’s a big honour and great reward,” Terry said of his parents and brothers induction.

“Our minds didn’t change that much from when we played in the paddock on the farm and when we played for Ungarie. Playing was always something we enjoyed and now at the end of the road it’s a nice reward. It’s a chance to catch up with people again and that’s what it’s all about. It’s the people you meet and the camaraderie.”

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