GIANTS board member Jimmy Bartel will join 13 other sporting greats in sliding down into icy water at the MCG on the Queen’s Birthday for a good cause.

The three-time Cats premiership player is one of eight sporting icons so far named to take part in the Big Freeze 5 ahead of the Collingwood-Melbourne match at the MCG on Monday, June 10 in the annual Queen’s Birthday clash.

Fellow AFL greats Nick Riewoldt, Jobe Watson, Brendon Fevola and Dane Swan have also been ‘challenged’ to take part by Fight MND co-founder Neale Daniher, along with Australian basketball superstar Lauren Jackson, cycling champion Anne Meares, and Australian netball star Bianca Chatfield.

Daniher, who played 82 games with Essendon between and coached Melbourne between 1998 and 2007, was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) in 2013.

He and Pat Cunningham founded Fight MND in 2014, while the Big Freeze has been a feature at the Queen’s Birthday Clash for the past four years.

The event aims to raise money to help find effective treatments and – eventually – a cure for the debilitating disease.

Last year, GIANTS coach Leon Cameron joined the 17 other AFL head coaches in taking part in the slide, donning a Ferrari Formula 1 Driver’s Suit in a playful nod to a comment that he was “handed the keys to the Ferrari” when he took over as the GIANTS’ coach in 2013. 

To support the cause, footy fans can buy a Fight MND Beanie here.