The Queen’s Birthday public holiday will have a very different feel for footy fans this year, but fortunately one tradition will remain – with some of the AFL’s biggest names set to again take the plunge for the Big Freeze on Seven.
For the past five seasons, the Big Freeze has been a crowd-favourite pre-match fixture at the Collingwood-Melbourne Queen’s Birthday blockbuster, with FightMND icon Neale Daniher sending a who’s who of the football, sport and media worlds down the slide into Australia’s most famous ice bath.
This won’t be possible this year, but Big Freeze 6 will continue the fight against ‘The Beast’ via a special one-hour broadcast on Channel 7 and 7mate.
On Monday, June 8 – just three days before the AFL season resumes – one player from each of the 18 AFL clubs will embrace the Big Freeze tradition of dressing up and taking an icy plunge: can anyone top Nick Riewoldt’s show-stopping turn as Freddie Mercury last year?
The select group includes a host of the game’s superstars, with the identity of each ‘slider’ to be revealed by their own club in the lead-up to Big Freeze 6.
Speaking exclusively on 7NEWS, Neale Daniher said the coronavirus pandemic had presented some significant challenges but was never going to stop the Big Freeze:
“We have all had to adapt, FightMND have adapted. There will be a slide, there will be a fun event.”
Footy fans can also catch all the teeth-chattering, bone-chilling fun on 7plus, while Seven will screen a replay of a classic Magpies-Demons Queen’s Birthday encounter as the lead-in to the Big Freeze special broadcast.
TV Broadcast times on Seven:
Monday June 8
Seven’s Footy Vault
Classic Queen’s Birthday Replay
Melbourne v Collingwood
Melbourne 2.00pm on Channel 7
Sydney 12.00pm on 7mate
Brisbane 12.00pm on 7mate
Adelaide 12.00pm on Channel 7
Perth 12.00pm on Channel 7
Big Freeze 6
Melbourne 4.00pm on Channel 7
Sydney 2.00pm on 7mate
Brisbane 2.00pm on 7mate
Adelaide 2.00pm on Channel 7
Perth 2.00pm on Channel 7