St Kilda have opened their best and fairest awards night with an emotional tribute to club and AFL great Danny Frawley.
Stewart Loewe, Robert Harvey, Nathan Burke and Michael Roberts have spoken lovingly of their former teammate, who died tragically on Monday in a car crash.
Roberts raised a toast to Frawley, who died the day after his 56th birthday, and there was also a video tribute.
Loewe and Harvey were choked with emotion as they gave their speeches.
“He was one of my best mates and he will always be my hero,” Loewe said.
The Saints great added that when he was asked to speak about Frawley, he was still in shock and had to think about it.
“What would Spud want? The answer was pretty obvious – put your suit on, roll up your sleeves and get the bloody job done. That’s just who he was.
“(Former coach) Kenny Sheldon mentioned something yesterday that resonated …. he described ‘Spud’ as the glue that held everything together at St Kilda.”
Loewe said Frawley had a profound influence on players such as himself and Harvey when they started at the Saints.
He also called on the current St Kilda players to emulate Frawley’s passion and love for the club.
“Use tonight as the start rather than the end and remember … that the big man will always be watching over us,” Loewe said.
Harvey remembered that Chelsea, one of Frawley’s three daughters, was a flower girl at his and Danielle’s wedding more than two decades ago when she was three.
“Outside of his much-beloved family, his clear next love was here, at this club,” said Harvey, now an assistant coach at Collingwood.
Harvey remembered playing in Frawley’s last AFL game and sadly thinking that football would not be the same without him as a teammate.
“Well unfortunately we’re here again, but this is forever,” Harvey said.
“When the old crew get together … and we drink beers and tell stories about times past, it’s just changed forever now.
“The guy who told most of the stories, he just won’t be there.
“The guy who most of the stories were about, he just won’t be there. It’s a loss that just can’t be fathomed, it’s a loss that just can’t be real.”