Surprised there isn't a stand alone thread on this. Congrats to Garry!

An all time Melbourne great and could have been one of the superstars of the game had it not been for his chronic back injuries. I started supporting the Dees in 1998 and only saw the back end of his career unfortunately.

Great interview last night with Gerard Whatetly and one of the best things I love about the Hall of Fame is when they get to tell their story from the very beginning.

Edited June 10Jun 10 by dazzledavey36

Well deserved, great player, leader & commentator & he’s one of ours!

Would’ve been a great coach

Congratulations Garry, it's been a very long time coming.

The most natural leader that I've ever seen skipper this club.

Congratulations Garry. Once an idol, always an idol! Thank you.

You do forget to a small degree just how good he was.

Well done Gaz, was a joy to watch over the years.

Long, long overdue and very much deserved.

I was too late to see Robbie Flower at his peak, but Garry Lyon was clearly the best Melbourne player I saw play until Gawn and Petracca hit elite status.

He was an All Australian as both a defender and a forward, he captained Victoria when State of Origin was still big business, he was a fantastic captain and leader of the club and a great spokesman as well.

Unfortunately injuries cost him a lot of games, and possibly cost him a premiership as well, but he was as good as anyone in the game when fit.

Congratulations Garry.

Well done Gaz, what a gun he was.

Marks on the 50, and you know it’s going straight through the middle

I’ll never forget the 10 he kicked in a final against the dogs in only 3 quarters.

A great media person too and melbourne through and through

I was there too when he kicked 10 against the Doggies. Saw many of his games, he was elite and a wonderful captain.

Congratulations on your induction Garry, long overdue.

Well done Gaz - super player. If he never got injured, would have been our greatest IMO

Congrats Garry.

I remember a game in the early 90s, we had a pretty ordinary start to the year and we were looking down the barrel of another loss at 3/4 time against the Bears/Lions from memory. Garry was thrown into the middle in the last and completely changed the game and we ended up winning. That’s how good he was.

5 minutes ago, Dee Zephyr said:

Congrats Garry.

I remember a game in the early 90s, we had a pretty ordinary start to the year and we were looking down the barrel of another loss at 3/4 time against the Bears/Lions from memory. Garry was thrown into the middle in the last and completely changed the game and we ended up winning. That’s how good he was.

Another Melb great hampered by injury. But he is the most astute and knowledgeable player in our list of greats in the modern era. Carried this into his captaincy.

Congrats on Hall of Fame but he really hit the mark in Perth being able to hand the Cup to Maxy. The world’s way of giving him some premiership touches.

So enjoyable now in the media especially on AFL 360 with his hard hitting commentary wisdom.

PS Also so happy about his domestic life and the ridiculous outcry when it changed dramatically. Some people forget it takes TWO to Tango!!

I'm astonished that it's taken this long. I assumed he was already inducted.

(I'm not being critical of any of the new inductees, but there is a fair bit of recency bias. I am sure there are many players from earlier eras - like Garry Lyon - who should be inducted before players who retired just a few years ago.)

48 minutes ago, DubDee said:

Well done Gaz, what a gun he was.

Marks on the 50, and you know it’s going straight through the middle

I’ll never forget the 10 he kicked in a final against the dogs in only 3 quarters.

A great media person too and melbourne through and through

That 94 SF will be talked about but his 88 finals series as a 20(?) year old kid was exceptional. Won the game in the dying minutes against West Coast, snagged a couple of great goals against the Pies in a lowish scoring game and kicked a barrel from the centre square at a wet Waverley in the Prelim against Carlton (kicked another great one from the pocket too).

It's no coincidence that our tumble down the ladder in mid-89 coincided with his injury. He was the ultimate team player, willing to go wherever the coach needed him to try and drag the Demons over the line.

4 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Surprised there isn't a stand alone thread on this. Congrats to Garry!

An all time Melbourne great and could have been one of the superstars of the game had it not been for his chronic back injuries. I started supporting the Dees in 1998 and only saw the back end of his career unfortunately.

Great interview last night with Gerard Whatetly and one of the best things I love about the Hall of Fame is when they get to tell their story from the very beginning.

Big shout out to dazzledavey36 for posting this, what a champion player, what a sharp memory and even better public speaker had that crowd in the palm of his hand and mentioned everyone who touched him during his life. Wow Gary, hope that you agree to being our President one day, we would be in great hands.

4 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Surprised there isn't a stand alone thread on this. Congrats to Garry!

An all time Melbourne great and could have been one of the superstars of the game had it not been for his chronic back injuries. I started supporting the Dees in 1998 and only saw the back end of his career unfortunately.

Great interview last night with Gerard Whatetly and one of the best things I love about the Hall of Fame is when they get to tell their story from the very beginning.

What a great player he was from the time he debuted, could play either end to a very high standard.

As you say the back had a massive impact on his onfield legacy but at his peak he was a match winner.

Congratulations Garry

A mighty player! Probably cost us a GF berth in 1987 when he broke his leg in the famous game at the Western Oval, then missed the semi against WCE in 1990 which would have given us a great shot at one of the most open flag races in history - we'd already knocked Hawthorn over the game before. That year Gaz won his first B&F and was one of the best players in the competition. Injury was a constant curse for him but at his best, there were few better.

3 hours ago, Dee Zephyr said:

Congrats Garry.

I remember a game in the early 90s, we had a pretty ordinary start to the year and we were looking down the barrel of another loss at 3/4 time against the Bears/Lions from memory. Garry was thrown into the middle in the last and completely changed the game and we ended up winning. That’s how good he was.

Not sure about the Bears / Lions, but Swooper threw him into the middle in the last against Essendon at Windy Hill in 1990, and he and Darren Bennett won us the game, turning a 34-point deficit halfway through the final quarter into an 8 point win. We kicked seven goals in 17 minutes!

A truly famous victory.

5 hours ago, Waltham33 said:

Well done Gaz - super player. If he never got injured, would have been our greatest IMO

David Schwarz had a higher ceiling bar his injuries

57 minutes ago, Roost it far said:

David Schwarz had a higher ceiling bar his injuries

Ox might have had a higher ceiling that anyone who played at this club.

1 hour ago, Roost it far said:

David Schwarz had a higher ceiling bar his injuries

9 minutes ago, layzie said:

Ox might have had a higher ceiling that anyone who played at this club.

TBH I think the Ox had a bigger ceiling than any player in the AFL

4 minutes ago, Gorgoroth said:

TBH I think the Ox had a bigger ceiling than any player in the AFL

Better ceiling than Carey for sure.

Growing up watching the Dees from around 87, Garry was certainly the star of the club after Robbie in my early days of supporting the team. Some of his performances were truly inspiring, he could win a game off his own boot, and did so on more than one occasion.

There were numerous backs-to-the-wall wins against teams like West Coast, Carlton, Collingwood, and Essendon in the late ’80s where he had a significant impact. I still remember the monster torps he could launch from outside 50, something today’s kids wouldn’t fully grasp, but back then we’d all try to emulate those sort of kicks at school or footy training.

I was lucky enough to attend the 1994 semi-final when Garry kicked 10 goals against the Dogs. I think Schwarz kicked 2 that day as well, jumping into packs and taking hangers. Leaving that game I thought we were on the cusp of some special times as a footy club but it wasn’t to be in terms of the ultimate glory.

Both were great players, but in my opinion, Schwarz would have surpassed Carey if not for the injuries, just an opinion of course but his natural talent was undeniable.

Edited June 11Jun 11 by Bonkers

Well done to the great man.

What a great speech. Thanks for posting.

He is a fantastic speaker. Who could forget the tributes he did for Jim & spud.

I always remember 97 after balme was sacked & his back was stuffed & he got himself up to play against Richmond & we won.