North Melbourne star Ben Cunnington breaks down following battle with cancer

After a year in which he had a testicular tumour removed, North Melbourne star Ben Cunnington teared up at the club’s awards night.

Matthew Sullivan

2 min read

October 2, 2021 - 6:14AM

North Melbourne's Ben Cunnington teared up during his runners-up speech at the best and fairest.

AFL

Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL. Followed categories will be added to My News.

North Melbourne midfielder Ben Cunnington has broken down accepting runner-up in the club’s best and fairest award.

The 30-year-old finished second behind Jy Simpkin in the Syd Barker Medal and was emotional as he spoke about a challenging year in which he was diagnosed with testicular cancer in July.

Kayo is your ticket to the best local and international sport streaming Live & On-Demand. New to Kayo? Start Your Free Trial >

Cunnington, who won the award in 2014 and 2019, remarkably was runner-up despite missing seven games in the middle of the season to have emergency surgery to remove a testicular tumour.

During the Kangaroos’ online award presentation, he choked up when asked how proud he was of his achievement after having such a difficult year personally.

“Yeah it actually is,” Cunnington said.

“For some reason I’m getting a bit emotional even though I didn’t even win it.”

A champion player, and an even better person.

We love you, Cunners. #SydBarkerMedal pic.twitter.com/okDE7VVFyO
— North Melbourne (@NMFCOfficial) October 1, 2021

“Oh I’m not good at this stuff,” he added, wiping tears from his eyes and pausing to gather his thoughts.

“Just to have the support from the club, the players and my beautiful family, yeah I couldn’t have done it without them.

“It’s more than I even expected. You think you’re a bit more alone but the support (from) everyone from the top of the club to the fans stuck at home, it’s been huge.

“It actually helps me smile and makes we want to keep continuing playing for this great club. It means more than I ever thought.”

North Melbourne finished on the bottom of the ladder in 2021 but Cunnington is encouraged by the promising signs shown by the young brigade of players coming through at the Kangaroos.

“I’m just a bit embarrassed because I don’t want to take the attention away from the winner,” he said.

It was a rare show of emotion from Ben Cunnington.

“I love working with the young guys, it drives me every day.

“I try and think and help them in any way I can.

“To see them get the recognition and hopefully another young fella’s got that tonight, it means a lot to hopefully contribute to them in anyway to get us back to where we belong.”

The heartwarming speech was out of character for Cunnington, who is famously media-shy and known as a man of few words.

“Never thought I’d see Ben Cunnington crying,” Herald Sun journalist Marc McGowan tweeted.

“He’s been through a heck of a lot and you probably all-too-easily brush these things off until you see the visible impact.”

AFL reporter for The Age Peter Ryan added: “Don’t hear much from this guy but it doesn’t get much more genuine (and great) than this from Ben Cunnington, runner-up in the B&F.”