SUGGESTIONS that Chris Mainwaring's death was linked to family issues were unfair on his wife, Rani, and on Mainwaring's resilience, according to a friend of 20 years, soon-to-be West Coast chairman Mark Barnaba.

"Some assertions that family issues led to his tragic passing are totally ridiculous," Barnaba said. "Speak to anybody with him last Friday, Saturday or Sunday and he was good, upbeat.

"His death was a confluence of very unfortunate events that led to a completely unlikely outcome that was never intended. No doubt about it.

"You are never going to find somebody that loved his family as much as 'Mainy'."

Barnaba, who knew Mainwaring since 1988 and shared a house with him in the late 1980s and early '90s, had a coffee with the dual premiership player on Friday.

He said while there were some family issues, "like many couples have to work through", Mainwaring described his strong feelings for his wife and children, Maddie, 8, and Zac, 6. "… Speaking as a friend, to overplay the family situation is wrong," Barnaba said. "That is a total aside to what happened here, that would be totally unfair on Rani to think that was a factor. It is not the way he should be remembered."

Barnaba believes that Mainwaring's lack of fitness could have contributed to the seizure that led to his death and rocked the football world on Monday.

"He wasn't that fit," he said. "Mainy was 41, entering middle age and carrying a bit of a gut. He basically spent Sunday killing himself training (for a kick-boxing bout against Justin Langer) and, knowing Mainy, he was probably dehydrated and drinking beer rather than water.

"He may well have taken something but Mainy was not a drug user. He may have done that that night but those days are long gone. To phrase him that way is unfair.

"It was poor judgement and a situation gone tragically wrong. I am absolutely certain about that."

Barnaba said the club would discuss with the families ways to honour Mainwaring's name and the contribution he made to West Coast.

Mainwaring's mother, Leah, had flown with her eldest son Glen, 50, to Perth from Geraldton on Monday afternoon. "It has been very difficult but I'm so happy now that I've had that moment with him," she said.

Her son played under some of Australia's greatest coaches, but Leah Mainwaring said she always considered herself a superior mentor to the likes of Mick Malthouse and John Todd.

"I told him time and time again that I could make a better footballer out of him than that lot," she joked. "I always thought they went too easy on him, so I'd rip into him if I got a chance.

"I would ring him up and say, 'Listen here, son, that was a shocking kick in the last quarter today, get your act together', and tease him about things like that to do with his footy.

"And he would just say, 'OK Mum, sorry, I'll try harder next week'. We used to have a good laugh."

Leah Mainwaring said she last spoke to her son on Friday and he had been in "good spirits". As always, she said, he had been full of energy and ambition. "I'll always remember that about him — the passion he had for life." WEST AUSTRALIAN