MELBOURNE great Jim Stynes has spoken about how Sean Wight took him under his wing when he first arrived from Ireland.
Wight arrived before Stynes as a pioneer of the Irish Experiment. And Stynes reflected on Wight’s influence on him during the early days, when the now Melbourne president arrived in the mid 1980s.
“When I first came to Australia ... he used to drive me everywhere - I couldn’t drive. He was gifted at everything he did. He was even amazing in a car. He’d scare the hell out of you,” he said with a smile.
“I remember going to a game, I think it was in the night competition, and I didn’t even need to warm up, my adrenalin was running that fast, and that high.
“He was gifted at everything he did, and every sport he played. There was only one sport he was no good at - he couldn’t swim. He just could not swim, but at every other sport, he was just so gifted, and competitive. And yet, he was fair.
“He never drank, he never smoked, and never got involved in anything but with honesty and integrity from the day he was born.”
Although Wight’s career was interrupted by injury - he had at least nine operations before his final two years when he played some of his best football - Stynes said he should’ve been a 250-game player.
“He gave everything, and he played 150 games, which is a great feat, but at the same time, he should have been a 250-game player, if only for his injuries,” he said.
“He played state footy, and I played with him when we played for Australia in Ireland, and he just had mountains of talent.
“He would have played professional soccer, without a doubt, and he could have played on the pro golf tour - he could just do everything.”
With Wight arriving for the 1982 Grand Final and Stynes a couple of years later, the 1991 Brownlow medallist said the Scotsman recruited from Ireland helped ease his transition.
“He arrived a couple of years before and wore the path. He did all of the things that I didn’t have to do for the first time, in a sense. He’d been there, done that and he made it easier for me,” he said.
“He introduced me to people, and while, as football went on, we started off as really close mates, and then you drift. It’s in life - you have different jobs, you have different families and so on, and then what happened in the end was just devastating.
“To see such a competitor and a man end up getting cancer and the way it just took the life out of him so fast - obviously there’s a lesson for everyone in it, but nobody should go that quickly, in that way. It is just horrible.”
Wight arrived before Stynes as a pioneer of the Irish Experiment. And Stynes reflected on Wight’s influence on him during the early days, when the now Melbourne president arrived in the mid 1980s.
“When I first came to Australia ... he used to drive me everywhere - I couldn’t drive. He was gifted at everything he did. He was even amazing in a car. He’d scare the hell out of you,” he said with a smile.
“I remember going to a game, I think it was in the night competition, and I didn’t even need to warm up, my adrenalin was running that fast, and that high.
“He was gifted at everything he did, and every sport he played. There was only one sport he was no good at - he couldn’t swim. He just could not swim, but at every other sport, he was just so gifted, and competitive. And yet, he was fair.
“He never drank, he never smoked, and never got involved in anything but with honesty and integrity from the day he was born.”
Although Wight’s career was interrupted by injury - he had at least nine operations before his final two years when he played some of his best football - Stynes said he should’ve been a 250-game player.
“He gave everything, and he played 150 games, which is a great feat, but at the same time, he should have been a 250-game player, if only for his injuries,” he said.
“He played state footy, and I played with him when we played for Australia in Ireland, and he just had mountains of talent.
“He would have played professional soccer, without a doubt, and he could have played on the pro golf tour - he could just do everything.”
With Wight arriving for the 1982 Grand Final and Stynes a couple of years later, the 1991 Brownlow medallist said the Scotsman recruited from Ireland helped ease his transition.
“He arrived a couple of years before and wore the path. He did all of the things that I didn’t have to do for the first time, in a sense. He’d been there, done that and he made it easier for me,” he said.
“He introduced me to people, and while, as football went on, we started off as really close mates, and then you drift. It’s in life - you have different jobs, you have different families and so on, and then what happened in the end was just devastating.
“To see such a competitor and a man end up getting cancer and the way it just took the life out of him so fast - obviously there’s a lesson for everyone in it, but nobody should go that quickly, in that way. It is just horrible.”
