Chris Daniher
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
He brought home stories.
He brought home new ideas.
He widened our world.
Thankfully, he eventually convinced dad to let him move to Assumption College for years 11 and 12, where he could play footy and cricket.
He found his tribe here, mentors who would shape him for life.
That's where something really started to take shape in Neil.
But there were signs already with the Whig scene back at home.
There were endless backyard cricket matches at Hillview.
Terry bowled at hefty speeds, Chris and I chipped in, and Neil would bat on the six-metre concrete pitch that Dad had laid for us.
No pads, no gloves, no boxers, just day after day, summer after summer.
Hillview backyard cricket was serious business, and Terry just couldn't get him out.
Even when the stumps were replaced by two 12 gallon drums, Terry still couldn't get him out.
And while he loved his sport, he liked it on his terms.
Neil hated running on hard ground, and at Hillview, that was pretty much all he was in summer.
Yet, you'd see the rest of us charging around anywhere, working hard, trying to get fit, but not Neil.
He was always searching for that one soft patch of grass.
If he found it, that's where he'd run.
If he didn't, well, let's just say his enthusiasm dropped off pretty quickly.
He'd even drive into Hungary looking for grass.
He was determined.