Collingwood and Melbourne players have formed a circle in the middle of the MCG as a tribute to Neale Daniher.
After a video tribute on the giants screens, the capacity crowd erupted in applause ahead of the AFL Kings' Birthday clash.
The pre-game 12th Big Freeze was held in perfect sunny conditions, a fortnight after Daniher died from motor neurone disease.
It was 13 years since he had been diagnosed with MND. A state memorial service will be held for him on Wednesday, also at the MCG.
The former AFL player and coach became an inspiration for fronting the FightMND charity, with the Big Freeze its annual centrepiece. In 2025 he was named Australian Of The Year.
The impact of Daniher and the FightMND campaign means that the King's Birthday game is the biggest AFL game this year outside the grand final - a status traditionally reserved for the MCG Anzac Day blockbuster.
Pre-game, the two teams ran through a giant banner featuring a mural of Daniher that read "Play On For Neale".Â
The Killers' Mr Brightside, one of Daniher's favourite songs, blared out as the players warmed up for the game.
Most of the crowd wore the blue beanies made famous by the Big Freeze event.
Governor-General Sam Mostyn became the highest-ranking Australian to go down the slide.
She was wearing a half-Essendon, half-Melbourne guernsey - Daniher played for the Bombers and coached the Demons.
"Who inspires us most today? Neale Daniher. So I could only come as one person - he's with me today, I reckon," said Mostyn, a former AFL commissioner.
"Neale said play on, so I'm going to slide on."
Other sliders included Winter Olympics gold medallist Cooper Woods dressed as surfing great Mick Fanning, and Australian netballer Jo Weston as Kylie Minogue.
"The last two weeks have been incredibly hard, but to see the community around the MCG, seeing it blue ... it just means that we continue to do what we need to do," Daniher's daughter Bec said.
"Beat this beast - we're going to do it for Dad.
"He loved his day - pushing those sliders down, he loved seeing their faces.
"We've told the sliders that a lot of responsibility sits on their shoulders."
Bec said Daniher's family continued to be overwhelmed by the public support for the FightMND cause.
"Everyone's doing Dad proud, it's so special to see the community rally and again it's for those people who are fighting against the beast," she said.
A Big Freeze beanie sat on an empty chair near the top of the slide. As his conditioned worsened, Daniher took pride of place in his chair.
"He loved it. He was always the coach, so he always loved being the boss and that's the boss chair up there," Bec said.
"We're going to play on for Neale."
South Sydney player Jai Arrow, who announced his NRL retirement due to an MND diagnosis five days before Daniher died , was in the Collingwood rooms before the game and tossed the coin for the choice of ends.