Warnie’s funeral a fitting goodbye to man loved by all
The breadth of the 80 invited guests, many of whom considered Warne a best friend, hinted of the cricket legend’s way of embracing all.
Victoria
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How’s this for a dream cricket team?
Three Australian captains – Michael Clarke, Mark Taylor and Allan Border – are the batters, along with one of the silkiest strokemakers ever, Mark Waugh.
Merv Hughes, Glenn McGrath and Brendon Julian throw down fireballs.
Ian Healy is behind the stumps, with Victoria’s Darren Berry in reserve if Healy cracks one of those gnarled fingers.
England’s Michael Vaughan can head up the opposition.
Throw in Glenn Robbins as celebrity umpire.
They all came on Sunday to farewell the biggest name, their friend Shane Warne.
They arrived in flash cars, almost all black, from 10am, to be greeted by half-mast flags at the Moorabbin footy ground, where Warne, a touch plump and a bit slow, once tried and failed to be a St Kilda footballer.
The sporting riches at Warne’s private funeral were matched by an unusual x-factor of business and celebrity figures, from Dannii Minogue to Lloyd Williams, who walked in with Warne’s father Keith.
A chopper flew overhead. Police clumped unobtrusively nearby, as St Kilda fans lined construction work fencing hoping for a glimpse.
The Warne MCG rock show and public celebration awaits later this month. On Sunday, at least from the outside, instead spoke of sombre solidarity for a man whose future went mostly unquestioned until he died suddenly at 52.
Security guards did their job thoroughly. The most public of men, the chronic tweeter and texter whose travels and hijinx doubled as hot news for three decades – would receive the most private of funerals.
All his children – Brooke, Summer and Jackson spoke “amazingly well” at the service, according to one of the mourners.
Warne’s father spoke, along with wealthy golf buddy Ross Desmond, former St Kilda player Aaron Hamill, Warne’s assistant Helen Nolan and one of Warne’s mates who tried to save his life, Andrew Neophitou.
Coldplay’s Chris Martin sent a clip of a song he wrote for Warne, The Eulogy, which will also feature at the MCG tribute, while Frank Sinatra and Ed Sheeran music played during the photo tribute.
Afterwards, McGuire said the “eloquent” service was loaded with elements of joviality and levity as well as nods to Warne’s hardness and dedication. The tears “flowed freely” and the laughs “rang loudly”.
“The life lesson (was) from his family and that was ‘manners are free, you should use them’,” McGuire said.
“For all his foibles … he had tremendous loyalty to friends, and an amazing capacity to give of himself to people he believed needed the support … He was the kid who asked for autographs back in the day and he never forgot it.”
Sam Newman said the service was “as good as it gets”. He hoped the MCG would be packed on March 30 to honour a “great man”.
Both McGuire and Newman spoke of the dignity displayed by Warne’s family.
“As we all know, everybody who has gone through a funeral, it’s a real full stop, and it really hits home,” McGuire said.
The breadth of the 80 invited guests, many of whom considered Warne a best friend, hinted of Warne’s way of embracing all.
All presented with St Kilda scarfs on arrival, Warne’s childhood friends were there, along with poker mates, and the St Kilda footballers he adored as both stars and friends.
Speaking before the service, MC Eddie McGuire voiced the wider affection for Warne, whom he said always looked out for people on the street.
Warne was fallible, which made him more relatable. He did things that other men dreamt of. He played foremost for the public.
Warne had something about him, McGuire said. He sprinkled “gold dust everywhere he went”. “He did the things you thought, ‘wow, I wonder what it would be like to be a playboy in London society’,” McGuire said.
Warne’s children avoided the media on their arrival. Since March 4, they have been forced to share their loss with the millions of people who felt like they knew Warne.
On Sunday, they were papped as they got in the car to come to the service. Jackson Warne, an uncanny double of his father at the same age, was pictured carrying a golf club.
At the ground, a police officer spotted a photographer high up a tree, presumably perched to take photos without permission.
Nevertheless, Warne’s family finally got to farewell their father, the sporting rock star, on their own terms.
Warne’s parents and kids trailed the slow moving hearse in Warne’s final lap of a sporting field. Mum Brigitte jigged from time to time as Bruce Springsteen and Coldplay played. At the end of the lap, the family was toasted by guests with a drink.
An open can of Warne’s gin label, Seven Zero Eight, was placed on his casket and remained there as the hearse left the ground.
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