Tuesday, 10 September 2019

 Ms LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (13:33): Yesterday Victoria and the AFL community lost one of its favourite sons. Danny ‘Spud’ Frawley was a legend amongst legends and a terrific bloke who made everyone around him laugh and feel special. He was a true champion of the game, having played 240 senior games for St Kilda and captained the Saints for 177 games from 1987 to 1994. He was the club’s best and fairest in 1988 and was also selected for the All Australian team in that same year as well as playing 11 times for Victoria. Danny was also inducted into the St Kilda Football Club Hall of Fame and made an AFL life member. Following his career as a player, Danny went on to be an assistant coach at Collingwood and senior coach for the Richmond Football Club from 2000 to 2004, coaching the Tigers to a preliminary final in 2001.

It was during his time at Richmond that I got to know Danny, who was loved by the players, the staff and the supporters at Tigerland. He always had a smile on his face and a story to tell. One of the stories that I loved was the story of a trip to training with his mate Tony ‘Plugger’ Lockett. Danny told me that they were travelling down from Ballarat to Moorabbin and as they got to St Kilda they thought they would just pop into Luna Park for a few rides. A few rides turned into quite a few rides and they never reached training. Having rung the club to make some excuse, the pair were exposed the following day when a photo of them riding the Great Scenic Railway roller-coaster appeared in the paper. Danny went on to have a long career in the football media. He truly touched every aspect of the game and was loved by all associated with it.

My deepest condolences to his wife, Anita; his daughters, Danielle, Chelsea and Keeley; his extended family; and to all who knew and loved Spud. Vale, Danny Frawley.