Rita Panahi: Irresistible Warnie was one of a kind

Shane Warne was special, not just because he was the finest spin bowler to ever play the game but because his spirit was fierce and irresistible.

“I’m impossible not to like,” Shane Warne joked. And he was right.

Whether you knew Warne or just admired him from afar, his passing has hit hard.

Our hearts broke again on Monday night reading the words of his children, parents, brother and former wife. Their loss is immeasurable, made harder by the shock of losing someone so full of life at such a young age.

Warne was special. Not just because he was the greatest spin bowler to ever play the game or one of the finest cricket minds, he also had a spirit that was fierce and irresistible, he was charismatic, generous and a larrikin.

Shane Warne was a pillar of support to Sam Newman when he lost his wife.

I was lucky enough to get to know Warne a little over the past decade and found him to be the most wonderfully generous and warm soul. He was a loyal friend and doting father.

When his great mate Sam Newman tragically lost his wife, Amanda, last year, Warne was a pillar of support despite his insanely busy schedule.

“He had cricket, work engagements and promotions going on but he was so attentive and so concerned about me, he said ‘mate, I’m here,’” Newman told me on Monday night. “What I’ll miss is ... the dance in the dark, laugh in the sunshine and walk down memory lane, that was Shane.”

Above all his achievements, all the records and accolades, Warne was a devoted father; he was so proud of his three children, Brooke, Jackson and Summer, and the special bond he had with them.

Warne was a devoted father; he was so proud of his three children, Brooke, Jackson and Summer.

“At the end of the day, being a decent dad is the biggest achievement, it’s what life is all about,” he told me back in 2015.

“If you can make them good people then you’ve done a good job. Whatever life throws at them they’re prepared for it, they’ll make some mistakes along the way, that’s how they learn, but they’re good people. You look at how your parents were and how others parent and you learn from it and put your own spin on it, no pun intended.

“I absolutely love being a dad. I really enjoy helping to shape my children ... because they are a product of their environment.”

Warne was also courageous and not just on the field. He hated political correctness and had the guts to call out BS even if it meant copping flack from the media.

He was one of the few brave enough to challenge the utter nonsense that saw the media paint footy fans as racist because they booed Adam Goodes. Warne knew his footy and footy crowds and understood the booing wasn’t motivated by racism.

Good, bad or glorious, Warne was always himself, which is why people loved him. Picture: Getty Images

His opinion shouldn’t have been controversial, indeed it was very much a majority, mainstream opinion but not among the media who were in unison pushing a racist narrative and so he copped it.

But that didn’t stop him from speaking his mind, Warne wasn’t going to take the easy road and self-censor. He was no coward.

“If I strongly believe in something I say it, if that rubs the do-gooders up the wrong way or isn’t politically correct then so be it,” he told me.

“I won’t be muzzled if I have an opinion on something ... Australians say it the way it is and that’s the Australian way, I think if we lose that we’re losing our DNA of what we are.”

Warne was charismatic, generous and a larrikin.

Good, bad or glorious, Warne was always himself, and that’s why people loved him so much even when he, in his younger days, stuffed up.

But the media were not always so kind. He copped plenty of invective over the years, some of it deserved, much of it confected and unfair.

Among the most egregious criticisms were the attacks against the Shane Warne Foundation that raised money for sick children.

The charity copped terrible, some may say malicious, treatment from segments of the media and it was a blow that Warne felt keenly.

Shane Warne’s foundation should be part of his great legacy. Picture: Getty Images

He wound up the charity but not before it donated more than $4m to sick children, including plenty straight out of Shane’s pocket.

For the record Consumer Affairs Victoria completed a thorough investigation into the charity and found “no evidence of unlawful conduct” or any “failure on the part of the foundation to give the net proceeds of appeals to named beneficiaries.”

The foundation should be part of Warne’s great legacy. And, having spoken to some of the parents of the children who benefited, I can tell you they are eternally grateful to Warne and what he did for their families.

And much of what he did for others he did quietly, without any fanfare or fuss.

He is gone far too soon but Shane squeezed in several lifetimes into his 52 years. RIP King.

Rita Panahi is a Herald Sun columnist