Danny Frawley

He later served as chief executive officer of the AFL Coaches Association from 2008 to 2014, and had part-time roles with the Hawthorn Football Club and St Kilda.

[18] During his playing career, Frawley was a regular cast member on AFL Squadron alongside Garry Lyon.

[2] Earlier in his career, he was also involved with the Nine Network and Triple M as a commentator and a regular co-host on The Saturday Rub.

[27] Frawley was married to Anita,[2][3][26] who made regular appearances on the Fox Footy Channel program Living with Footballers.

[2][3][26] On 9 September 2019, a day after his 56th birthday, Frawley died in a single-vehicle car crash in Millbrook, Victoria.

[31] An examination of his brain nearly a year later found that Frawley had stage two chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a neurodegenerative disease caused by repeated head injuries; his wife Anita said she had "strongly suspected there was more going on with Danny than straightforward depression".

[37][38] The AFL announced that a moment of silence would be observed in Frawley's honour before both semifinals the following weekend (Geelong–West Coast and Brisbane–Greater Western Sydney), with all four teams also wearing black armbands.

[39] The Melbourne Storm and Canberra Raiders also observed a moment of silence for Frawley before their NRL qualifying final at AAMI Park.

He was a footballer, he was our skipper, he was a coach, he was a spud farmer, a media personality...he was a husband, he was a dad, he was a brother, he was a friend to many, and he was one of my best mates...and he will always be my hero.

When Matt Finnis (St Kilda CEO) then asked me yesterday if I'd like to pay tribute to Danny tonight at the best & fairest, I couldn't answer him...But after an hour or so by myself, I started to think, what would Spud want?

How footy touched his soul...well, that was evidence in the tears he shed for Teddy Whitten during that lap at the MCG, when he couldn't finish that famous induction speech for Tony Lockett and as he choked up honouring Trevor Barker just this year as he took his place in the Hall of Fame.

Both radio stations Frawley had worked at — Triple M and SEN — broadcast a special joint edition of The Saturday Rub in Frawley's honour co-hosted by friends and colleagues James Brayshaw, Brian Taylor, Damian Barrett and Garry Lyon.

[43][44][45][46] A private but broadcast memorial was held for Frawley, followed by the hearse travelling to Moorabbin Oval for a lap of honour.

[47] In November 2020, St Kilda and the Victorian and federal governments announced the plans for a $16 million (AUD) Moorabbin Oval centre, including classroom spaces, consultation suites and breakout areas to be named the Danny Frawley Centre for Health and Wellbeing.

[48] The centre launched on 1 March 2022, with the attendees including St Kilda greats Loewe and Nick Riewoldt, club CEO Matt Finnis, Frawley's broadcast colleagues Lyon and Jason Dunstall, actor and former St Kilda #1 ticket holder Eric Bana, AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan,[49] Victorian Tourism Minister Martin Pakula and Senator Jane Hume.

[50] In January 2021, it was announced that Frawley's nephew James, who had joined St Kilda after a brief retirement at the end of the 2020 season with Hawthorn, would wear the #24 guernsey, which Danny had worn from 1985 to 1987 before switching to #2.

Prior to the match, the game was delayed by two minutes with Frawley's close friends Lyon, Loewe and Tony Lockett paying tribute to Frawley in the middle of the ground and asking for those that were watching to check with their mates with both teams surrounding them and his family watching on.