Garry Lyon
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Gareth "Garry" Lyon (born September 13, 1967 in Devonport, Tasmania) is a former Australian rules footballer, best known as former captain of the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League.
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[edit] Football career
Born in Devonport, Lyon was recruited from Kyabram and debuted in 1986 with the Melbourne Football Club, playing in a Grand Final in 1988. He quickly became a dominant player in the AFL, winning his first Melbourne Football Club Best and Fairest Award in 1990. He became Melbourne's captain in 1991, and eventually became the longest-serving Melbourne captain in club history until he was released from the role after the 1997 season due to the club's belief that he would suffer from too many injuries. Lyon was known for playing with many injuries and his presence on the field despite such adversity saw him as an inspiration to teammates. [1]
Lyon finished his career having won two Melbourne Best and Fairest awards, three All-Australian teams. His career ended as a result of increasing back injuries and problems. A broken leg, footage of which is often played on The Footy Show ended one of his seasons. In the end he finished with 223 AFL games and 423 goals, third best all-time for a Melbourne player.
[edit] Media career
Lyon became a successful football commentator, appearing on The Footy Show late in his playing career as a panellist. Lyon, alongside James Brayshaw took the hosting reins of the program in 2006 after Eddie McGuire became CEO of the Nine Network. A notable running joke on the show in 2006 saw footage of Lyon being carried off on a stretcher during a serious injury he suffered in his playing days.
Previously he had worked alongside Brayshaw on the Sunday Footy Show and in 2005 on Any Given Sunday, as well as being a presenter of the Melbourne Commonwealth Games 2006 coverage on Nine.
His radio career began in the late 1990s on 3AW and in 2004 he hosted Morning Glory on SEN 1116. In 2005, he returned to 3AW, and appeared on Sports Today as well as providing special comments for the station's AFL coverage. He is a columnist for the Herald Sun newspaper, and has co-authored children's books including all books in the Specky Magee series.
[edit] Coaching career
Lyon coached the Australian International Rules team to several tournaments against Ireland before coaching his last game in the October 2004 series.
Despite a lack of success in the International Rules series, Lyon is often named as a potential candidate to become an AFL head coach in the future.
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ Holmesby, R. and Main, J. (2005). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers. ISBN 1-86350-243-2
