Jim Stynes

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Jim Stynes
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Personal information
Birth April 23, 1966 (1966-04-23) (age 42), Dublin, Ireland
Recruited from Ballyboden St. Enda's (Gaelic football)
Playing career¹
Debut , Melbourne Demons vs. , at
Team(s) Melbourne Demons (1987-1998)

264 games, goals
¹ Statistics to end of 1998 season
Career highlights

Jim Stynes OAM (born April 23, 1966) is a former Australian rules football player.

Though he had no contact with the sport until the age of eighteen he went on to become one of its most successful players with a Brownlow Medal and the current record for the most consecutive games.

Stynes' 12-year VFL/AFL career from 1987 to 1998 was played with the Melbourne Football Club.

Contents

[edit] Football career

James Stynes was born in Dublin, Ireland, and played Gaelic football with Dublin's Ballyboden club as a boy along with his brother and former captain of Dublin, Brian Stynes. The sport has some similarities to Australian Rules and Ireland and Australia play an annual series of International Rules Football, a game based on both codes. Stynes' first contact with Australian Rules came in 1984 when he answered an ad in a local paper from the Melbourne Football Club seeking talented Gaelic footballers as possible recruits, the Irish experiment credited to Melbourne Football Club's legend, Ron Barassi. Also, in 1984, he was on Dublin's winning side in the All-Ireland Minor Football Championship.

Stynes suitably impressed Melbourne officials and he was brought to Australia to undergo a crash course in Australian Rules before making his debut for the Melbourne underage team in 1985.

At first, Stynes was a slow developer but the Melbourne coaching panel's perseverance with him paid off when Stynes made his senior debut for Melbourne in 1987. In the 1987 preliminary Final Melbourne were leading Hawthorn with a minute to go when the Dubliner made the mistake of running across a free for the opposition. His error resulted in a 15 metre penalty which Gary Buckenara goaled after the final siren for a two point win.

Styne's best year came in 1991 where he won the Brownlow medal. In a great year, he was highly favoured to win the event. In doing so he became the first (and so far only) overseas-born player to win the award.

Stynes would eventually play 264 games with Melbourne before his retirement in 1998, placing him second on Melbourne's all-time games tally.

Of the 264 games, 244 were consecutive (an Australian Football League record) and the honours he achieved during his career included both main AFL "Best and Fairest" awards, the Brownlow Medal and AFL Players Association MVP award (now known as the Leigh Matthews Trophy) in 1991, four club Best and Fairest awards with Melbourne and All-Australian honours in 1991 and 1993.

[edit] Post Football

Following retirement in 1998, Stynes assumed the role of an anti-racism officer within the AFL, a cause close to his heart due to his declared astonishment at the level of racial abuse he (and players of non-Australian background) had experienced throughout his career.

The Jim Stynes Medal is awarded by the AFL to the best Australian player in the International Rules series. Stynes name was also used in the inaugural International Australian Football Youth Tournament.

Stynes’ younger brother, David, played for Ireland’s winning team in the inaugural Australian Football International Cup, an International Australian Rules competition held in Melbourne in 2002. He also played for the defending champions in the 2005 event. Stynes' brother Brian was a Gaelic Footballer who played for the Dublin GAA team. He played against his brother in the International Rules against Ireland many times. Brian also played 2 AFL games for the Melbourne Demons in 1992.

Stynes has a corporate function room bearing his name at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

In 2003 Stynes was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.

[edit] Charity Work

After finishing his AFL career, Stynes began to concentrate primarily on his youth charity, the ([1]) Reach Foundation. Reach looks to help teenagers at risk of suicide or depression, and has become a prominent youth worker in Victoria, Australia. The aim of Reach is to support young people on their journey to find their own truth, and to follow their dreams. Reach achieves this by creating a "safe space" for groups of young people to develop trust, openness and the freedom to express their concerns, perceptions, fears and aspirations and to recognise that they are not alone.

In 2003, Stynes was named Victorian of the Year and has worked on government advisory boards including the 1997 Victorian Government Suicide Task Force and he currently sits on the Federal Minister For Youth’s Youth Advisory Consultative Forum Committee.

[edit] Books

Preceded by
Tony Liberatore		 Brownlow Medallist
1991		 Succeeded by
Scott Wynd
Preceded by
Darren Millane		 Leigh Matthews Trophy
1991		 Succeeded by
Jason Dunstall