‘Should I have seen something, said more?’: Jason Dunstall left devastated by Danny Frawley’s death

Jason Dunstall speaks of his devastation at loss of co-host and great mate, Danny Frawley.

Danny Frawley and Jason Dunstall attend an AFL Finals luncheon back in 2010. Picture: Julie Kiriacoudis

Fox Footy presenter and AFL Hall of Fame member Jason Dunstall has spoken publicly for the first time of his shock at the sudden death of his Bounce co-host Danny Frawley.

Speaking on last night’s episode of AFL 360, Dunstall admitted he would “never understand” his great mate’s mental health battles.

“It’s hard to get your head around. It’s an illness I’ll never ever understand,” Dunstall said.

“I hate its guts, but I can’t get a handle on it. It just seems so senseless and you’re just left with this giant void.

“He had some time off — I don’t even know how many years ago that was now — and that blindsided me because I’d worked with the guy every week. We’d have so much fun, so much fun together, and I wasn’t aware of anything. I didn’t see any of the signs.

“And then I made a point of asking him, ‘How are you going mate? How are you going?’ Until you get to the stage of feeling like you’re bugging him so you stop asking him.

“And then you think, ‘Shit, if I had have been more attentive should I have seen something, noticed something, said more?’”

Jason Dunstall and Danny Frawley hold up a birthday cake marking Bounce’s 350th show in June this year. Picture Jay Town

Dunstall said he was left numb when hearing the news of Frawley’s death in a single vehicle road crash close to his childhood farm near Ballarat.

“I basically had no feeling for hours,” Dunstall said.

“It wasn’t until I saw a replay of 360 doing a tribute and that’s when I lost it and burst into tears and couldn’t stop crying, but I hadn’t cried up until then.

“I wasn’t accepting what had happened.”

Dunstall said making Frawley’s loss more difficult to understand was the fact he was well known for his mental health advocacy, and that there were no visible signs he himself was struggling.

“That’s what makes it harder to come to grips with because he hid it so well and he’s such a good performer,” he said.

“When the cameras went on, he was on.

“He was a born entertainer and he entertained. He didn’t always have a filter. He wasn’t the most politically correct guy going around, but my god, could he produce a laugh.

“I’ll miss those laughs.”

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