A day after flying down from Darwin's 30 degrees, Cyril Rioli was immersed in a minus-12 degrees ice bath.
The retired AFL star could not have been more honoured.
Rioli happily agreed when Neale Daniher personally rang and asked him to be one of the sliders in the Big Freeze Five, held before the Collingwood-Melbourne game at the MCG.
Featuring sporting greats in costumes, the chilly dunk promotes fundraising for the fight against MND (motor neurone disease).
Daniher has become a public face of the disease in Australia since he was diagnosed six years ago.
Monday was a rare step back into the limelight for Rioli, who is happy in retirement after abruptly leaving the game last year for family reasons.
The Hawthorn great, sporting an impressive beard, shrugged off how cold the water was.
"I had the phone call from Neale and that was amazing," he said.
"For what he's trying to do, I just wanted to play my part and help out as much as I can."
Rioli has helped start up a program in Darwin to help local youths and is happy to watch local football.
"I go down to the footy and it's good to sit on the other side of the fence.," he said.
There was a strong personal connection for two-time Olympic cycling gold medallist Anna Meares.
Her long-time coach Gary West was diagnosed with MND before her Rio Games swansong and died barely a year later.
Meares slowed up on the slide - a rare setback for one of cycling's fastest women - and she joked that West would not have been amused.
"Poor technique, bad form - he'd probably just stand there with his arms crossed, look at me and just not say anything," she said.
Meares tested her old cycling skinsuit in the shower - too revealing - and so her costume was Jessie from Toy Story.
"Giddy up and give MND a kick in the arse," she said.
"I remember MND slide three. Gary was still alive and he said how wonderful it was that people were willing to do this, to raise awareness, raise money."
Former St Kilda great Nick Riewoldt earned maximum votes this year for his Freddie Mercury effort, while retired Western Bulldogs star Liam Picken pulled off an impressive Joker.
