With his own family touched by the cruelty of motor neurone disease, St Kilda coach Ross Lyon has praised Neale Daniher's impact both on the football field and in the fight against the condition.

Lyon lost his mother Louise to MND back in 2004 and has been long a supporter of Daniher's fundraising push.

Eight years ago the then Fremantle coach joined celebrities and took on the Fight MND Big Freeze giant slide at the MCG, held annually before the Collingwood-Melbourne match.

Lyon dressed as a cobbler, referencing one of his favourite sayings: "Let the cobblers do the cobbling", which he liked to use as he declined commenting on areas outside of coaching.

The Saints coach said Daniher, who died on Monday, was a huge influence as a 82-match player with Essendon, a Melbourne mentor for 10 seasons and global advocate for the disease.

"I think he was 21 when he was appointed Essendon captain, he was a superstar on the rise and then multiple knee injuries ... so his courage and determination shone through there, didn't it?" Lyon told AAP.

"And then he went in and picked up a struggling Melbourne football club off its knees, from the bottom of the ladder to a prelim and grand finals."

With Essendon's Brad Scott the latest coach to be sacked, Lyon said Daniher was also a strong advocate for coaches as an inaugural member of the AFL Coaches Association and then vice-president.

Daniher himself resigned mid-season as Demons coach after a horror start to 2007.

"His ability to influence the AFL coaches association ... we see the carnage already in Carlton Football Club and Essendon, and everyone's got a right to employ who they want, but it's a brutal business and he was there fighting for the coaches," Lyon said.

"And then obviously MND, in the fight for 13 years ... and that's close to (me) my mother passed away of motor neurone so it's close to my heart.

"He's just incredibly selfless, and more importantly a great family man.

"He made a mark in everything that he did - he wanted to make everyone's lives better."