We have all watched on over the last 12 months at the life battle that Melbourne Football Club personality Jim Stynes is punching against in his battle with cancer. Born on 23rd of April 1966, an Irish former professional footballer who is currently a businessman/philanthropist/writer/youth worker/qualified teacher and of course Chairman of the Melbourne Football Club.

Stynes came to fame through the Irish experiment as both a pioneer and it’s most successful product. At 18 yrs the Gaelic footballer moved to Australia to play our game and went on to become one of Aussie football’s most celebrated members and a member of it’s Hall of Fame. The first player recruited outside of the country to win “Charlie” he also holds the record for consecutive games played at 244 and was very well known in his playing days as highly courageous, continuing to play at the highest level competently despite injury. His entire VFL/AFL career was played with Melbourne as a ruckman, an official club legend and Team of the Century member, 3 successive B & Fs and four all up which are both club records.

After football Stynes has become a tireless youth and charity worker, has twice been named Victorian of the Year (2001/2003) and has been honoured by the Queen with the medal of the Order of Australia in 2007. The list of Stynes achievements is as long as the Tassie winter is cold and to go on I would need the whole program.

On 2nd July 2009, Stynes held a media conference to inform the public that he, the seemingly invincible had developed cancer, a lump in his back was shown to be cancerous and tests revealed that it had spread to other parts of his body including his brain. Several surgeries later and after much debilitating treatment the courage of life - time Demon, Jim Stynes, is on display now more than we have ever seen before.

The courage to fight no matter how small the odds of winning, the courage to battle through the pain and adversity in an attempt to overcome your opponent, in Jim’s case an opponent that could take his life, the courage that we as a football club should engage over the next month and a bit to overcome our challenges. Yes, they are two very different opponents, but opponents none the less. I suggest if Jim can why can’t you? Dust off ya cough, wipe away the sniffles, get off the couch, grab a shovel, dig a hole and bury those excuses. For now the fight is on, our fight, our battle, our success.