Graham Lyons (born 28 June 1969) is an

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

, and a former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who played for South Sydney, Penrith and Balmain in the

New South Wales Rugby League The New South Wales Rugby League Ltd (NSWRL) is an Australian rugby league football competition operator in rugby league in New South Wales, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Co ...

(NSWRL) competition. Lyons primarily played on the but spent the majority of the 1989 season in the centres. He is the cousin of fellow rugby league player Cliff Lyons.

Playing career

Lyons made his debut for South Sydney (first grade player number 765) in round 5 1988 against

St. George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

Belmore Oval Belmore Sports Ground, formerly known as Belmore Oval, is a multi-purpose stadium in Belmore, New South Wales, Australia. The park covers and from 1951 has contained the Belmore Bowling Recreation Club green. It is close to Belmore railway ...

. In 1989, Lyons was part of the South Sydney side which won the minor premiership. Lyons played in the club's preliminary final defeat against the

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugb ...

. In 1990, Lyons finished as Souths top try scorer but his team endured a horror year on and off the field with the club finishing last on the table. Lyons was selected for the New South Wales Blues for the three State of Origin games in

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

, starting on the in games II and III. He also played for the Australian Aboriginal side at the 1990 Pacific Cup. A speedy winger, Lyons was unable to regain the form that earned him selection for New South Wales, moving to Penrith in 1992 and then Balmain where his first grade career ended in 1994. In his first season at Balmain, Lyons finished as the club's top try scorer with ten tries. Lyons final year in the top grade saw Balmain finish last on the table. This was only the fourth time in the club's history in which they had finished last. Lyons last game was in round 22 1994 against the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...

in which Balmain lost 41–6. Including Lyons appearances for NSW & City, his career total was 100 first grade games & he scored 30 tries.

References

External links

* 1969 births Living people Indigenous Australian rugby league players Australian rugby league players New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players South Sydney Rabbitohs players Penrith Panthers players Balmain Tigers players New South Wales City Origin rugby league team players Rugby league wingers Australian Aboriginal rugby league team players Place of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Australian sportsmen {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1960s-stub