Alastair Lynch

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Alastair Graeme Lynch (born 19 June 1968) is an Australian Football League full forward from Burnie, Tasmania who had a highly-successful career, despite chronic illness and injury.

Contents 1 Fitzroy Football Club 2 Brisbane Bears 3 Brisbane Lions 3.1 Retirement 4 Post-football career 5 External links

[edit] Fitzroy Football Club

Selected at pick 50 from the Hobart Football Club in the 1986 VFL Draft, Lynch began his senior football career at Fitzroy in 1988. He was an intimidating player in defence, playing fullback and centre half back. In his early years his notable abilities were strong marking (his outstanding aerial abilities recognised when he won the 1991 Mark of the Year award) and heavy tackling. His titanic battles with key forwards such as Tony Lockett were highlights, and Lockett has commented on Lynch being one of his toughest opponents. In 1993, Fitzroy coach Robert Shaw moved Lynch to full forward, where he lead the club's goal kicking with 68 goals and won the best and fairest award. Lynch also played fullback in the 1990 Tasmanian State of Origin team, the first Tasmanian team to defeat Victoria in 30 years.

[edit] Brisbane Bears

In 1993, Lynch transferred to the Brisbane Lions. At the time, the Brisbane Bears, Like the Fitzroy Football Club were experiencing lean times, but improving somewhat under the coaching of premiership coach Robert Walls. The term of Lynch's contract, ten years, was unprecedented and at the time considered by outsiders to be a great risk for the club.

Lynch came full of promise to the Bears. In the early years, he became a poster boy recruit for the struggling club which lacked big name players.

In his first few games of 1994 Lynch had suffered a broken collarbone and knee surgery, making him unable deliver his best. In 1995, he contracted a mystery virus which was later revealed that he was suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome which sidelined him for the entire 1995 season. Some commentators believe that if Lynch had played that season, then the Bears could have won a premiership. Others believed that Lynch contracted chronic fatigue when overtraining during his rehabilitation from injury. Lynch was one of the first sportspeople in Australian to experiment with the ice bath which proved to assist in his recovery, and became a public figure for the illness which was struggling for credibility at the time.

In his return the following season, the Bears, struggling for forward line talent and with an increasingly talented backline, first experimented playing Lynch up forward to relieve an ageing Roger Merrett with some success. Successive seasons saw him interchanged between the two opposite ends of the ground.

[edit] Brisbane Lions

When Fitzroy merged with the Bears after the 1996 season to form the Brisbane Lions, Lynch was made a semi-permanent forward but was unable to perform at his peak for the next two seasons due to minor recurrence of his illness.

Lynch was appointed as club co-captain with Michael Voss in 1997, a position that he held until 2000, when Voss assumed the full captaincy.

Still struggling with intermittent lapses of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in 1998, Lynch discovered that the drug he had been prescribed at the beginning of the season, although with the permission of the Australian Sports Drug Agency (official AFL drug agents) had been added to the IOC list of banned substances. He took it upon himself to alert the AFL and was controversially charged for taking a prohibited substance before eventually being cleared.

A new beginning for Lynch and the Lions came in 1999, under champion coach Leigh Matthews. He played some games in defence but usually at full forward. Improvements in his strength, kicking for goal and positioning during marking contests made him one of the most feared forwards in the competition.

Endured great success for the 2001, 2002, and 2003 seasons becoming a multiple goal kicker against the game's most prominent fullbacks including Stephen Silvagni, Matthew Scarlett and Shane Wakelin from Collingwood, Brisbane's on-going rivals. Lynch now has played in three winning premierships. In 2004, he was the competition's oldest player at 35 years of age.

[edit] Retirement

Lynch retired after the 2004 AFL Grand Final in controversial circumstances. Straining a hamstring early in the match, he reacted to some sledging from Port Adelaide Football Club's Darryl Wakelin by swinging several punches. Despite none of them appearing to connect with Wakelin and the fact that he had already retired, Lynch was heavily fined and suspended for ten matches by the AFL tribunal. This added salt to the wound of losing and missing out on a record-equalling fourth consecutive premiership for the Lions.

Despite this disappointing end to his career, Lynch is remembered as a player who overcame great adversity to become one of the premier players with one of the greatest teams the game of Australian rules football has seen.

[edit] Post-football career

Lynch is now enjoying his football retirement, and is spending it as a match commentator on Brisbane Lions matches with Triple M radio as well as an occasional television commentary role with the Fox Footy Channel.

He has also co-written a book with Peter Blucher titled, "Taking Nothing For Granted", which was released in 2005.

[edit] External links

• Alastair Lynch - a Tasmanian Football legend