Ex-Demons VP on relationship with Daniher and MND fight

FORMER vice-president of the Melbourne Football Club, Bill Guest, has opened up on his sporting life with Sam Edmund on *This is Your Journey – thanks to Tobin Brothers.

Guest was first elected to the club’s board in 1992, serving as vice-president in 1995, 1996 and from 1998 to 2001.

The powerbroker’s time at the Demons coincided with Neale Daniher’s stint as coach with the former Essendon defender taking the reins at the club from 1998 to 2007.

Having formed a close relationship with Daniher from when he was part of the interview team that hired him for the Melbourne coaching role, Guest has since helped the AFL icon in his fight against motor neuron disease.

As the Inaugural chair of the FightMND charity, Guest played a big part alongside Daniher in creating the Big Freeze game on King’s Birthday between Melbourne and Collingwood and he said he could never have imagined how popular the game has become.

“It’s been an amazing thing, I’ve been involved from the start as the inaugural chairman,” Guest said.

“It’s extraordinary, from the day we dreamt this up we had no idea, including Neale that it would end up like this.”

As well as the infamous slide, one aspect of the Big Freeze game and FightMND has been the sale of blue beanies with proceeds going the charity’s way.

Guest can’t believe how popular the beanies have become as he has seen them worn in far corners of the globe.

“It’s quite incredible, you see them everywhere, I’ve seen them in Brooklyn and London,” Guest said.

“If you watch more and more… there’s so many people wearing the beanies.”

Ahead of Monday’s huge clash at the MCG, Guest expected a bumper crowd to support the cause and the teams involved.

“I’m quietly confident we’ll get 90,000 pending the weather on King’s Birthday and you’ll see so many beanies it’ll be mind blowing,” Guest said.

– SEN