Jim Stynes

Jim Stynes OAM
Stynes in 2008
Personal information
Full name	James Peter Stynes
Born	(1966-04-23)23 April 1966 Dublin, Ireland
Died	20 March 2012(2012-03-20) (aged 45) St Kilda, Victoria, Australia
Original team	Ballyboden St Enda's (club)/Dublin (underage, county team)
Height	199 cm (6 ft 6 in)
Weight	99 kg (218 lb)
Position	Ruckman
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1987–1998	Melbourne	264 (130)
Representative team honours2
Years	Team	Games (Goals)
1990–1994	Victoria	10 (?)
International team honours2
1987–88, 1998	Australia	5 (42pts)
1990	Ireland	3 (11pts)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1998. 2 Representative statistics correct as of 1998.
Career highlights
Melbourne Night Premiership: (1987) 2× All-Australian team: (1991, 1993) Brownlow Medal: (1991) Leigh Matthews Trophy: (1991) 4× Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medal: (1991, 1995, 1996, 1997) Second most consecutive games in VFL/AFL history (244) Melbourne Team of the Century (Interchange) Australian Football Hall of Fame: 2003 Melbourne Hall of Fame Australian Sports Medal: 2000
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

James Peter Stynes OAM (23 April 1966 – 20 March 2012) was an Irish-born Australian rules footballer, youth worker and sports administrator. Stynes played the entirety of his Australian rules football career with the Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and the Australian Football League (AFL) between 1987 and 1998. He was recruited from Dublin through Melbourne's "Irish experiment", Stynes went on to become the first, and only, non-Australian-born player to win the Brownlow Medal in 1991.

Stynes played as a ruckman. He played a then-record 244 consecutive games, a streak that was a record lasting over two decades. He also won the Leigh Matthews Trophy in 1991, two All-Australian team selections, four Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medals, as Melbourne's best and fairest player and was selected in Melbourne's Team of the Century. He additionally represented Victoria in State of Origin football, as well as playing for both Australia and Ireland in the International Rules series.

Outside of football, Stynes was known for his work with young people. In 1994, Stynes co-founded the Reach Foundation, a youth development organisation. His contributions earned him multiple Victorian of the Year honours and the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2007. After his playing career, he served as the president of the Melbourne Football Club from 2008 until 2012. He was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2003.

In 2009, Stynes was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma. He continued his commitments throughout treatment before dying in 2012 at the age of 45. A state funeral was held and a statue was erected at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The AFL's annual Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award was created and named in his honour.

Career

During his 264-game career playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) between 1987 and 1998, Stynes became the first and only non-Australian-born VFL/AFL player to win the Brownlow Medal, which he achieved in 1991.

Stynes was quite famous in both Australia and Ireland as a result of his involvement in the Melbourne Football Club's international recruitment program (now known as the "Irish experiment"). Born in Dublin, Ireland, where he was a promising Gaelic footballer at the Ballyboden St Enda's club, Stynes made a move to Australia at the age of 18 following his county team's victory in the 1984 All-Ireland Minor Football Championship.

Debuting in the Australian Football League in 1987, he played 244 consecutive games between 1987 and 1998 as a mobile ruckman, a league record that was held for 27 years. Along with his Brownlow Medal, his Australian rules achievements included the Leigh Matthews Trophy, two-time All-Australian team selection, a Grand Final appearance in 1988, and a four-time winner of the Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medal for being judged Melbourne's best player throughout the course of a season. He also represented Victoria in interstate football matches, and he played for both Australia and Ireland in international rules football, a hybrid of Gaelic football and Australian rules football.

Following his football career, Stynes focused on youth work, using his profile to launch The Reach Foundation, which he co-founded in 1994. As a result of his work with young people in Victoria, he was named Victorian of the Year twice, in 2001 and 2003, and with the expanded profile of Reach nationally, awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2007.

Stynes also served as president of the Melbourne Football Club from 2008 and was involved in fundraising efforts which brought the club out of debt. In 2009, Stynes was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma and continued to work during his treatment for brain metastasis. He died in March 2012 and was honoured by a state funeral held at St Paul's Cathedral in Melbourne on 27 March 2012.

Early life

Stynes was born in Dublin, Ireland, to a Roman Catholic family, the eldest son of Brian and Teresa Stynes, one of six siblings. He grew up in Rathfarnham.

He attended Ballyroan Boys National School. He began playing Gaelic football at the age of eight. From age nine, he played at Ballyboden St Enda's at under-11s level. He attended high school at De La Salle College, Churchtown, where he played rugby union while continuing to play Gaelic football for his club alongside his younger brother, Brian.

His first exposure to Australian rules football was watching the 1980 film The Club on television. Stynes represented Dublin in 1984, at the age of eighteen, and was on Dublin's winning side in the All-Ireland Minor Football Championship.

Stynes aspired to a college education; however, he lacked the means and was earning just $10 a week delivering newspapers.

Later in his life, he graduated with a Bachelor of Social Science degree and a Diploma in Youth Work from RMIT University; additionally, he earned a Bachelor of Education degree from Deakin University. He was later awarded with the honorary degree of Doctor of the University from the Australian Catholic University.

Switch to Australian rules football

See also: Irish Experiment and List of players who have converted from one football code to another

In 1984, Stynes responded to an advertisement in his local paper placed by the Melbourne Football Club that offered two scholarships with all expenses paid to play Australian rules football and attend university in Victoria, Australia. Applicants were required to be under 18, over 183 cm and at county standard.

Tall and slim, Stynes was selected, along with James Fahey, and brought to Victoria to undergo a crash course in Australian rules. He signed a two-year contract, hoping to use the money to fund his way through college. Stynes was promised accommodation with an additional $60 weekly stipend, clothing, and $50 a game. He arrived in Australia on 7 November 1984.

Stynes debuted for the Melbourne under-19s team in 1985 and finished the season runner-up in the best and fairest. Ray Jordon, a coach who was experienced with talented juniors, worked intensively with Stynes, and he was sent to Victorian Football Association's Prahran Football Club to compete at senior level.

VFL/AFL career

Statue of Stynes outside the Melbourne Cricket Ground

Stynes made his senior debut for the Melbourne Demons in 1987 against Geelong at Kardinia Park. Two weeks later, he played in the Night Series Final against the Essendon Bombers. The Demons' thrilling 4-point victory over the Bombers gave the club its first silverware in 23 years.

Later in 1987, Stynes was part of the senior side which won their last six matches of the home-and-away season to finish in 5th place and qualify for Melbourne's first finals series since 1964. The Demons were cast as a Cinderella team, winning their first two finals by huge margins in front of huge, frenzied crowds. They were just seconds away from an unlikely Grand Final appearance, leading Hawthorn in the Preliminary Final by 4 points when a free kick was awarded to Gary Buckenara fifty metres from goal. Stynes ran through the mark as the final siren sounded; it was an error which resulted in a 15-metre penalty and brought the Hawk forward within range. Buckenara scored the goal, giving his team a two-point win and ending Melbourne's fairytale charge to the premiership (n.b. the 15-metre penalty rule was increased to 50 metres in 1988).

Stynes managed to put this costly mistake behind him. He cemented his position in Melbourne's senior team in 1988 and drew praise for his consistent play and for his innate skills and ability. He played in all 26 games, including the Grand Final versus Hawthorn. Despite his team losing to the Hawks by 96 points, Stynes performed admirably and he was judged to be Melbourne's best player that day.

In 1991, Stynes enjoyed the finest individual season of his career. With his fitness level at an all-time high and four years of experience under his belt, he took his game to another level, dominating the season with a league-best 214 marks. Many of these were taken thanks to his canny reading of the play. He repeatedly intercepted the opposition's long kicks forward with towering marks across the half-back line. He was installed as a hot favourite to win the Brownlow Medal after averaging an astounding 30.6 disposals and 11 marks per game over the final 8 rounds. Stynes polled 25 votes to win the 1991 Brownlow Medal, five votes clear of his nearest rivals. He remains the only non-Australian-born player to receive game's most prestigious individual honour. He was also awarded the AFL Players Association MVP trophy, was named the All-Australian ruckman, and won his first club best-and-fairest award for Melbourne.

Media commentators noted that Stynes had used his extraordinary endurance to redefine the role of the professional ruckman. While many of his opponents were over 2 metres tall, Stynes played in the style of a tall ruck-rover. Instead of focusing on hitouts and playing in bursts, he ran the whole game and gained possession across the entire ground. This was a model of play which many other mid-sized ruckmen such as Geelong and Essendon's John Barnes were able to successfully follow.

An exceptional run of consecutive games which had begun in Round 18 of 1987 almost ended with a severe rib injury in 1993 that Stynes sustained from a collision with teammate David Neitz in a match against the North Melbourne Football Club. He was treated at Epworth Hospital for a compound rib fracture. Despite being ruled out by medical officers for six weeks, he convinced his coach Neil Balme to pass him in the club fitness test and wore a chest guard in order to play the following Friday night.

Stynes finished the season with his consecutive games record unblemished and achieved All-Australian selection for the second time. In 1994, he suffered a medial ligament tear but continued to play through it, going on to string together three fine seasons between 1995 and 1997 in which he won consecutive club champion awards. In Round 9, 1996, Stynes played his 205th consecutive game, breaking the 53-year record held by Jack Titus since 1943.

Stynes broke his hand early in the 1998 season, effectively ending his streak of consecutive games finally at 244. He retired from professional football at the conclusion of the season, having played a total of 264 AFL games, all at Melbourne, placing him second on the club's all-time games tally at the time.

Statistics

Led the league after season and finals

Season	Team	No.	Games	Totals								Averages (per game)
				G	B	K	H	D	M	T	H/O	G	B	K	H	D	M	T	H/O
1987	Melbourne	37	13	15	10	116	45	161	48	8	114	1.2	0.8	8.9	3.5	12.4	3.7	0.6	8.8
1988	Melbourne	11	26	26	13	316	107	423	135	21	196	1.0	0.5	12.2	4.1	16.3	5.2	0.8	7.5
1989	Melbourne	11	24	17	14	327	112	439	119	26	254	0.7	0.6	13.6	4.7	18.3	5.0	1.1	10.6
1990	Melbourne	11	24	11	8	306	129	435	125	25	258	0.5	0.3	12.8	5.4	18.1	5.2	1.0	10.8
1991	Melbourne	11	24	15	10	382	232	614	214	11	256	0.6	0.4	15.9	9.7	25.6	8.9	0.5	10.7
1992	Melbourne	11	22	9	3	334	180	514	166	13	335	0.4	0.1	15.2	8.2	23.4	7.5	0.6	15.2
1993	Melbourne	11	20	6	8	265	179	444	123	6	264	0.3	0.4	13.3	9.0	22.2	6.2	0.3	13.2
1994	Melbourne	11	25	10	8	241	179	420	126	16	269	0.4	0.3	9.6	7.2	16.8	5.0	0.6	10.8
1995	Melbourne	11	22	9	3	264	137	401	134	15	242	0.4	0.1	12.0	6.2	18.2	6.1	0.7	11.0
1996	Melbourne	11	22	7	10	267	182	449	144	26	349	0.3	0.5	12.1	8.3	20.4	6.5	1.2	15.9