THE HIGHWAYMAN

THE HIGHWAYMAN by Whispering Jack

“I was a highwayman

Along the coach roads I did ride,

With sword and pistol by my side.“

I have this picture in mind of the great Demon Jim Stynes in another life in which he is a highwayman roaming the mountainous regions of his native Ireland. The image is not that of a common criminal but rather of a folk hero in the mould of those legendary characters who stole from the rich and gave to the poor in that famine-ravaged land. When captured, they were hung on the gallows or, if luck intervened, they would be transported halfway across the world in chains to do hard labour.

There were those in this land who craved freedom more than the highwayman’s baubles and coins. In dark times at the rising of the moon, they lay in wait preparing to battle for their liberty. Jim's grandfather had a brother, "Uncle Joe". He fought alongside the legendary Michael Collins during the Irish war of independence but Joe also won an all-Ireland Gaelic football title playing for Dublin.

“I was a sailor. I was born upon the tide 

And with the sea I did abide”

There was another great Demon Ron Barassi. He appreciated the close connection between the Irish game and our local sport. Australian football was first played in the colonies where highwaymen were sent on convict ships. Afterwards, thousands came on the tide hoping to find gold on the streets and start new lives away from the misery and the poverty of their homeland.

Another hundred years and more passed by when a tall young teenager with immense athletic talent read an advertisement. It was placed in an Irish newspaper by Barassi's football club and was seeking athletic young lads to come across the world to play football. Jim Stynes answered the call and arrived in Australia where he overcame many hurdles to become a champion footballer. He was the pre-eminent player in his adopted land when he won the Brownlow Medal in 1991.

“I was a dam builder across the river deep and wide Where steel and water did collide”

Football careers are measured in short time spans. When they end, the time comes to build other things. Jim married, made a home, started a family and a thriving enterprise helping young people with shattered lives. He reached out and soothed and enriched them. He gave them back their dreams.

“I'll fly a starship across the Universe divide, 

And when I reach the other side, 

I'll find a place to rest my spirit if I can, 

Perhaps I may become a highwayman again"

Jim was the bloke who ran over the mark in the preliminary final and went on to play 244 consecutive games in a total of 264 in a career that saw him win club four club Best and Fairest awards as well as the 1991 Brownlow. In his time, he established his durability, a feature that remained part of his persona even when afflicted by the curse of cancer in the last few years of his life.

Last September, he surprised the Melbourne faithful and arrived to speak at the club's Keith "Bluey" Truscott Medal presentation night. They were saying he was on death's bed, that the AFL was planning a tribute on grand final day. 

We stood, listening to his words in awe. And he stayed on a while ...

"Or I may simply be a single drop of rain, 

But I will remain, 

And I'll be back again, and again and again and again and again ..."

Today, that single drop of rain is like the tear that spills from my eye yet I remain consoled knowing his spirit will remain with us forever.

[The words quoted are from The Highwayman written by Jim Webb]