Members of the Goolwa RSL have joined hundreds of participants on the annual Daniher’s Drive, raising thousands of dollars for motor neurone disease (MND) research.
Goolwa RSL member Debbie Drew and her team, the RSL Defence Gals — Chris, Cathy, Nat and Karen — travelled to regional Victoria for the four-day fundraising road trip earlier this month.
Close to 250 cars took part in the event, raising more than $1.3 million for FightMND. The Goolwa crew contributed $9,405.
Neale Daniher AO, Australian of the Year 2025 and former AFL player and coach, co-founded FightMND after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2013. Since then, he has become a leading advocate for research and awareness, joining the drive alongside his family.
Teams covered more than 600 kilometres, departing Heidelberg Golf Club on Thursday the 9th of October and finishing at RACV Torquay Resort on Sunday the 12th.
This year’s drive featured a lively Saturday night event themed Legends of the Land Down Under, where the RSL Defence Gals dressed as “cash cows” in a nod to their fundraising efforts. The team also appeared on Channel Seven’s Sunrise on the first morning, putting on a show for the cameras in their costumes.
Their enthusiasm didn’t go unnoticed. The RSL Defence Gals took home two awards, the Amazing Race prize and the Spirit of the Drive award, which they shared with a New South Wales team known as the Old Crackers, three women who each lost their husbands to MND.
For Debbie, the cause is deeply personal. She has lost around 14 friends and acquaintances to the disease over the past seven years, including two close friends.
“It’s just the most horrible thing. At the moment there’s no cure,” she told ARN’s Adam and Jennie before the drive.
“So I heard about Neale Daniher’s Drive and I thought, we’re going to do this!”
Next year, for its 10th anniversary, Daniher’s Drive will head to South Australia for the first time. The event runs from the 8th to the 11th of October 2026, with stops planned in the Barossa, Adelaide Hills and Fleurieu Peninsula.
“I’d like to get on board and say come and have an adventure. It’s an amazing thing to do, meet some fantastic people and make some new friends,” told ARN’s Adam and Jennie this week.
More information and registrations are available at fightmnd.org.au.
