Former Aussie Rules player Jim Stynes is to be commemorated with a bronze statue outside the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in Australia.
Stynes, who enjoyed a 264-game career, died in 2012 after a long-battle with cancer.
Melbourne Cricket Club president Paul Sheahan said it was fitting the statue would be built exactly 30 years after the Gaelic footballer was recruited from Dublin.
“A true gentleman of the game, Stynes is an exceptional individual whose achievements as a non-Australian born player remain unmatched,” said Sheahan. “There is no doubt that he is one of the most extraordinary and inspiring figures in the history of Australian sport.”
Stynes was born in Dublin in 1966 and raised in Ballyroan in Rathfarnham before he moved to Australia when he was 18. He played 244 consecutive games from 1987-98 and became the only non-Australian AFL player to win the prestigious Brownlow medal.
In 2000, Stynes was included in Melbourne’s team of the century and was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2003.
Stynes was also involved in youth work and launched the Reach Foundation in 1994 which helped children to realise new opportunities and fulfil their potential.
Stynes will join cricket players Shane Warne and Neil Harvey, and footballers Norm Smith and John Coleman, in the series of statues featured on the Australia Post Avenue of Legends.
Australia Post managing director and CEO Ahmed Fahour said Stynes “was not only a great AFL champion, he was also an inspiration to many underprivileged and troubled youths during his career.
