IN ALL THE YEARS that are to come, stories will be told of the Melbourne Football Club.  And, while it is still fresh to all now, but a month on from his death, the story of Jim Stynes will be even more treasured as the years pass.

On Sunday, tribute will be paid to Stynes when Melbourne takes on the Western Bulldogs at the MCG.  It will be a twilight encounter.  The next day - 23 April - would have been his 46th birthday.

Less than twelve months ago, Melbourne also lost another great of the ‘Irish Experiment’ of the early to mid 1980s - Sean Wight - to cancer.  Together, Stynes and Wight form a powerful, poignant thread in the history of the Club, and a link that transcends the local game, the MCG and Australia.  They are loved right across the world, with memories of both felt particularly in Ireland - Stynes’ native land, and Scots-born Wight’s teenage home.

In The Kerryman upon his death, it was said of Wight that he was ‘one whose character, whose braveness, whose willingness to give everything to the cause marks him out as special.  Whatever team sport you played in Listowel, Sean was your leader.’

Complementary sentiments came from the Irish Australian Chamber of Commerce, when its President, Brian Shanahan, honoured Stynes.  ‘Future generations will remember him for his gift of inspiration.  He lived the dream…epitomised that innate Irish ability to strive against adversity.  Our reward was in knowing him.’

These words embrace the pair who took a leap of faith and courage nearly three decades ago, and gave us all a wonderful experience to share as they took on the game and became an entrenched part of the red and blue heritage - and of all our worlds, from the Reach Foundation to golf courses far and wide, from great honours to overcoming almighty obstacles.

From Wight’s hurtling athleticism and doggedness as the 150-game pioneer who would blithely say ‘I loved playing in the mud!’, to Stynes’ towering achievements and dedication to the club to which he gave so much, from the sheer glee on the faces of both sharing a vehicle in the 1988 Grand Final Parade - they have both left a legacy that will endure.  And, with the words of Jim Stynes in his autobiography - Whatever It Takes - we know that both are just a story away.  While referring to his book, Stynes may as well have been referring to his life:

‘…. I believe we do have a purpose on this earth…if you have been inspired in any way, or have learned something new, then I have achieved my purpose….’