Footy legend Greg Alexander opens up about the harrowing death of his brother and fellow champion who was killed in a car crash aged just 20
- Greg Alexander has opened up on the heartbreak on losing brother in car crash
- Promising star Ben Alexander, 20, died after getting behind the wheel drunk
- Death in 1992 rocked the Penrith Panthers club and western Sydney community
- Greg shared his heartbreak as part of new ad campaign targeting young drivers
Rugby league legend Greg Alexander has given a rare insight into the harrowing pain he still feels over the tragic death of his younger brother 27 years ago.
Ben Alexander, 20, was a promising star for the Penrith Panthers alongside his older brother before his life was tragically cut short when he made the fatal decision to get behind the wheel while drunk and crashed into a power pole.
His death in June 1992 rocked the rugby league world and the tight-knit western Sydney community which had celebrated its first premiership nine months earlier.
Now a NSW Origin Blues selector, Alexander has opened up in his brother's death in a powerful new advertising campaign soon to be launched targeted at young drivers which aims to save lives.
Greg Alexander (right) tried to convince his brother Ben (left) to stay at the Penrith Panthers team function on the fateful night Ben got behind the wheel under the influence of alcohol
An emotional Alexander describes his little brother in the video as 'the most outrageous personality' who was the life of the party.
He also recalls the fateful night where Ben and a few players decided to leave a team function where they'd just received their premiership blazers to kick on at a nightclub.
'I almost had him staying with me,' Alexander recalled in the video as he fought back tears.
'He was with his mates so I didn't press.'
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Alexander admits he doesn't know how he continued playing in the years that followed and eventually left the Panthers to end his league career in New Zealand.
'I did what I knew but I did it without emotion,' he says in the video.
'We're 27 years on and I look back now and think how long did it actually take for me to be like a normal person, it took years,' he said.
It was later reported at the time that when Ben crashed 16 kilometres away in Colyton, his blood alcohol level was 0.14, almost three times the legal limit.
Ben Alexander was almost three times over the limit when he lost control of his car
His brother Greg hopes he can help save lives on the roads by publicly sharing his heartbreak.
'Ben wasn't a reckless type person, but he was that one time. That one time cost him his life,' he said.
One of Ben's best mates, NSW Blues coach Brad Fittler also appears in the video to recall the impact the tragedy had on the entire Penrith community.
Then just 20, he was a night out with his Australian Kangaroos teammates when he received the tragic news from captain Mal Meninga.
The accident also changed Fittler's views on drink driving, which was up until then 'something that we just did.'
'From that day onwards, it was an absolute no. I never got in a car again under the influence of alcohol,' Fittler said.
Ben's death also took a personal toll on another close mate, Panthers teammate and brother-in-law Mark Geyer, who left the Panthers at the end of the 1992 season.
The powerful new video is part of the Knock-On Effect campaign, a partnership between Transport for NSW and the NSW Rugby League.
Brad Fittler (left) and Greg Alexander (right) were pallbearers at Ben's funeral in 1992
The campaign will coincide with this year's State of Origin series, which kicks off in Brisbane on June 5.
Alexander admitted doing the video was a difficult but necessary thing to do.
'I probably haven't done that before and go back to how I was feeling, even before Ben's crash. It was pretty tough to do but that didn't bother me, that I was feeling like that, he told The Daily Telegraph.
'I just knew, that if this is a campaign to try and make people take notice, I guess this will make people take notice.'
NSW transport minister Andrew Constance publicly paid tribute to Alexander for sharing the gut-wrenching story.
'This is very tough for him and he's doing to save lives,' he told reporters on Sunday.
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