GENERAL manager of football Chris Connolly paid tribute to Sean Wight following a recent fundraiser. Here is his tribute to his former teammate.

SEAN Wight has been thrown an incredible challenge.

He’s taken that challenge head-on, but it’s so unfair that he has cancer.

Sean is one of the healthiest people I’ve ever met.

He never smoked, never drank alcohol and he never conducted himself poorly.

He wasn’t a person who went to nightclubs, so he wasn’t even exposed to secondary smoke.

He’s had the courage to come to Australia and take on - and succeed at - Australian Football with the Melbourne Football Club.

He’s created a frontier for so many other Irishmen and now international players entering the game.

He is a very brave person and that reflected on the football field.

The climate didn’t suit him naturally. He was often heat-affected, and having pale skin didn’t help him.

He was thrown the challenge of overcoming a knee reconstruction. He overcame that and produced some of the best football of his career in his final two seasons.

Sean was a much admired player, because he was his own man.

He would go against the grain if he didn’t think what was being done wasn’t right.

Back in the mid-1980s, Melbourne was sponsored by Adidas. Everyone had to wear Adidas, but because he had overcome a knee reconstruction, he found a brand called Patrick in Scotland, which he said he would only wear.

We had a game at Moorabbin, and he was coming back through injury in the reserves and he wouldn’t wear Adidas, so the hierarchy had to pull him out of the game.

In the end, they reached a compromise that they would pull off the Patrick label and paint yellow stripes on the boots. That would happen a bit in the days before players could choose their own footwear.

Sean has always been an engaging, caring and friendly person.

He was always a team player and on the ground he took on the greatest full-forwards: Tony Lockett, Jason Dunstall and Gary Ablett. He was lining up on them each week and did a great job.

Garry Lyon has said before that of the five best players he has played with, two of them were recruited from Ireland, which is a phenomenal story.

And coincidentally, both Jim Stynes and Sean are fighting these battles against cancer. It’s really rocked the football club and individuals in and around it.

But footy makes you resilient, and those guys lead the charge by getting on with the plan and taking on the challenge.

We had a night at the Bentleigh Club for Sean and it was a great night. It was a reflection of the thing that underpins the strength of our game, and that’s relationships from staff, players, supporters or key stakeholders.

It started off as a fundraiser for lung cancer and then turned into a fundraiser to also assist Sean take on his challenge.

In the end, it became a big event, which sold out very smartly.

Unfortunately, a lot of people who wanted to come couldn’t get in. But the spirit shown in the lead-up and during the night was fantastic.

I reckon we could’ve filled the place up five times over if that was what needed to occur. It was a pretty full-on night.

It was a wonderful event for Sean and it was great for all of the people who have supported him with his life in Melbourne.

The Melbourne Football Club has also been very quick to assist with transport, nutrition and any needs that may be required.

Past players have been passing on their regards - and feeling helpless too, because there is not much you can do apart from pray and have good wishes that Sean’s health can turn.

You see the best and worst of life through these challenges - the challenge of course of seeing someone go through cancer and everyone circling to offer great hope, spirit and support.

Melbourne should be proud of how it’s been able to assist.

Former Melbourne president, and one of our greatest players, Stuart Spencer - and his wife Fay - have taken Sean and his family into their own home.

At the recent inaugural Norm Smith Oration, I had a good chat to Stuart and Fay. Stuart was glowing in his praise for the Melbourne Football Club and its people within it at the moment, plus those who have been involved in the past.

It’s a horrible, horrible situation for Sean.

But through it all, there have been some great values and behaviours displayed.

Now we’re side-by-side with Sean and trying to assist him as best we can, so he can be as comfortable as he can with his challenge.

Sometimes with our jobs, we end up so busy. We’ve also got families. And with the footy club, it is surrounded by a lot of high achievers, so they get on with the job of trying to achieve them.

It’s been quite an emotional roller-coaster for a lot of people involved around the place.

But this situation allows everyone to take a step back and reflect on the friendships with Sean and what you stand for yourself a little bit.

We all know Sean stands for something very special - not only at the football club - but life in general.