Alastair Graeme Lynch (born 19 June 1968) is a former professional

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who played in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL). He is best known as a three-time premiership full-forward for the

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions are a professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that compete in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. Brisbane are the ...

. The

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

n began his career in defence, but moved forward and became a leading goal-kicker for Fitzroy. He represented his home state at the elite level, and at the peak of his career in 1993 he was acknowledged as one of the league's best with

All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perfo ...

status. However, he left a financially struggling Fitzroy to join the

Brisbane Bears The Brisbane Bears were a professional Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, now known as the Brisbane Lions. Granted a Australian Football League, Victorian Football League (VFL), licence in 1986, ...

after the club's move from the Gold Coast. With the merger of his former club Fitzroy and new club Brisbane, Lynch rejoined with former teammates and became club captain. A long battle with

chronic fatigue syndrome Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a disabling Chronic condition, chronic illness. People with ME/CFS experience profound fatigue that does not go away with rest, as well as sleep issues and problems with memory ...

threatened his career; however, after many years in absence, Lynch's return to form at a relatively late age in his career was hailed by the football community, and he became part of Brisbane Lions' celebrated premiership winning formula. Lynch holds the record for the most combined goals for the merged Brisbane-Fitzroy entity and one of the last remaining former Fitzroy players to play in the AFL. With a passion for cricket, Lynch went on to represent Australia's Over 50's team in one match against England in 2018.

Early life

Lynch was born in

Burnie Burnie ( ; Aboriginal Tasmanians#North, pirinilaplu/palawa kani: ''Pataway'') is a port city located on the North West Tasmania, north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. It is the fourth largest city on the island, located approximately north ...

, north-west coastal

, the son of Graeme and Mollie Lynch, where he attended Burnie High School. He began playing football with Wynyard club where he played in the U17s and U19s before moving to

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

. In Hobart he played senior football with the

Hobart Football Club Hobart Football Club (nicknamed The Tigers) is an Australian rules football club based in Hobart, Tasmania. The club play their home fixtures at the TCA Ground on the Queens Domain, in Hobart and is a member of the Southern Football League. ...

under coach

Peter Hudson Peter John Hudson Order of Australia, AM (born 19 February 1946) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Victorian Football League (1897–1989), Victorian Football League (VFL) and for the New ...

VFL/AFL career

Fitzroy Lions career (1988–1993)

Selected at pick 50 in the 1986 VFL Draft, Lynch began his senior football career at Fitzroy in 1988. He signed his first contract on 5 February. He was an intimidating player in defence, playing full-back and centre half-back. In his early years, his notable abilities were his strong marking (his outstanding aerial abilities were recognised when he won the 1989 Mark of the Year award) and heavy tackling. His titanic battles with key forwards such as

Tony Lockett Anthony Howard Lockett (born 9 March 1966) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club and Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). Nicknamed "Plugger", he played as a full forward, full-forwar ...

were highlights, and Lockett has commented on Lynch being one of his toughest opponents. In 1993, Fitzroy coach Robert Shaw moved Lynch to full-forward, where he led the club's goal-kicking with 68 goals in addition to winning the best and fairest award. Lynch also played full-back in the 1990 Tasmanian State of Origin team, the first Tasmanian team to defeat Victoria in 30 years.

Brisbane Bears career (1994–1996)

In 1994, Lynch transferred to the

. At the time, the Brisbane Bears, like the Fitzroy Football Club, were experiencing lean times, but they were improving somewhat under the coaching of premiership coach Robert Walls. The term of Lynch's contract, ten years, was unprecedented; at the time, it was considered by outsiders to be a great risk for the club. Lynch came full of promise to the Bears. In the early years, he became a poster-boy recruit for the struggling club, which lacked big name players. In his first few games of the

1994 AFL season The 1994 AFL season was the 98th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured fifte ...

, Lynch had suffered a broken collarbone and knee surgery, making him unable deliver his best. In 1995, he contracted a mystery virus (which was later revealed that he was suffering from

), which sidelined him for the entire 1995 season. Some commentators believe that if Lynch had played that season, the Bears could have won a premiership. Others believed that Lynch contracted chronic fatigue when over-training during his rehabilitation from injury. Lynch was one of the first sportspeople in Australia to experiment with the

ice bath In sports therapy, an ice bath, or sometimes cold-water immersion, Cold plunge or cold therapy, is a training regimen usually following a period of intense exercise in which a substantial part of a human body is immersed in a bathing, bath of ic ...

, which proved to assist in his recovery, and became a public figure for the illness which was struggling for credibility at the time. After the illness Lynch rarely travelled to Perth, to play the Western Australian teams at home. In his return the following season, the Bears, struggling for forward-line talent and with an increasingly talented back-line, first experimented playing Lynch up forward to relieve an ageing Roger Merrett with some success. Successive seasons saw him interchanged between the two opposite ends of the ground.

Brisbane Lions career (1997–2004)

When Fitzroy merged with the Bears after the 1996 season to form the Brisbane Lions, Lynch was made a semi-permanent forward but was unable to perform at his peak for the next two seasons due to minor recurrence of his illness. Lynch was appointed as club co-captain with Michael Voss in 1997, a position that he held until 2000, when Voss assumed the full captaincy. Still struggling with intermittent lapses of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in 1998, Lynch discovered that the drug he had been prescribed at the beginning of the season, although with the permission of the Australian Sports Drug Agency (official AFL drug agents), had been added to the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

list of banned substances. He took it upon himself to alert the AFL and was controversially charged for taking a prohibited substance before eventually being cleared. A new beginning for Lynch and the Lions came in

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

under champion coach

Leigh Matthews Leigh Raymond Matthews (born 1 March 1952) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach. He played for Hawthorn Football Club, Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League (1897–1989), Victorian Football League (VFL) and coached and the ...

. He played some games in defence but usually at full-forward. Improvements in his strength, kicking for goal, and positioning during marking contests made him one of the most feared forwards in the competition. The Brisbane Lions enjoyed great success for the

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, and

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

seasons, with Lynch becoming a multiple goal-kicker against the game's most prominent full-backs, including Stephen Silvagni, Matthew Scarlett, and Shane Wakelin from Collingwood, Brisbane's ongoing rivals. In this period, Lynch played in three successive premierships. Lynch was in possession of the ball when the final siren sounded at the 2001 Grand Final to signify the club's first Premiership in 57 years. He would go on to play a key role in two further Grand Final triumphs. In

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, he was the competition's oldest player at 36 years of age, and became the last remaining player born in the 1960s to play in the VFL/AFL. Lynch announced his retirement after Brisbane's loss in the 2004 AFL Grand Final. It was viewed by some as a disappointing end to his career; he injured his quad early in the game, his only statistic for the day was giving away a free kick which led to Port Adelaide's first goal for the match, and he would have missed the first ten matches of 2005 after being reported a record-equalling seven times for exchanging punches in an all-out fight with Port Adelaide's Darryl Wakelin, for which Lynch was also fined $15,000. Lynch has since admitted significant regret about his behaviour in the match.

Statistics

:Alastair Lynch's player profile at AFL Tables
/ref> , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 1988 , style="text-align:center;", , 11 , , 18 , , 24 , , 16 , , 117 , , 42 , , 159 , , 64 , , 10 , , 1.3 , , 0.9 , , 6.5 , , 2.3 , , 8.8 , , 3.6 , , 0.6 , , 0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 11 , , 18 , , 26 , , 12 , , 138 , , 40 , , 178 , , 79 , , 9 , , 1.4 , , 0.7 , , 7.7 , , 2.2 , , 9.9 , , 4.4 , , 0.5 , , 1 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

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 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 11 , , 22 , , 19 , , 34 , , 217 , , 57 , , 274 , , 120 , , 17 , , 0.9 , , 1.5 , , 9.9 , , 2.6 , , 12.5 , , 5.5 , , 0.8 , , 0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 11 , , 22 , , 9 , , 14 , , 215 , , 75 , , 290 , , 88 , , 28 , , 0.4 , , 0.6 , , 9.8 , , 3.4 , , 13.2 , , 4.0 , , 1.3 , , 4 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 11 , , 20 , , 27 , , 13 , , 159 , , 63 , , 222 , , 74 , , 15 , , 1.4 , , 0.7 , , 8.0 , , 3.2 , , 11.1 , , 3.7 , , 0.8 , , 2 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 11 , , 20 , , 68 , , 31 , , 260 , , 68 , , 328 , , 143 , , 12 , , 3.4 , , 1.6 , , 13.0 , , 3.4 , , 16.4 , , 7.2 , , 0.6 , , 10 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 11 , , 13 , , 35 , , 22 , , 146 , , 32 , , 178 , , 81 , , 6 , , 2.7 , , 1.7 , , 11.2 , , 2.5 , , 13.7 , , 6.2 , , 0.5 , , 7 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 11 , , 1 , , 2 , , 0 , , 6 , , 5 , , 11 , , 5 , , 1 , , 2.0 , , 0.0 , , 6.0 , , 5.0 , , 11.0 , , 5.0 , , 1.0 , , 0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 11 , , 18 , , 52 , , 34 , , 153 , , 32 , , 185 , , 87 , , 7 , , 2.9 , , 1.9 , , 8.5 , , 1.8 , , 10.3 , , 4.8 , , 0.4 , , 2 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 11 , , 20 , , 12 , , 7 , , 155 , , 62 , , 217 , , 89 , , 10 , , 0.6 , , 0.4 , , 7.8 , , 3.1 , , 10.9 , , 4.5 , , 0.5 , , 0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 11 , , 15 , , 10 , , 7 , , 109 , , 63 , , 172 , , 55 , , 10 , , 0.7 , , 0.5 , , 7.3 , , 4.2 , , 11.5 , , 3.7 , , 0.7 , , 0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 11 , , 17 , , 31 , , 20 , , 99 , , 27 , , 126 , , 63 , , 8 , , 1.8 , , 1.2 , , 5.8 , , 1.6 , , 7.4 , , 3.7 , , 0.5 , , 0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 11 , , 22 , , 68 , , 25 , , 184 , , 49 , , 233 , , 124 , , 17 , , 3.1 , , 1.1 , , 8.4 , , 2.2 , , 10.6 , , 5.6 , , 0.8 , , 3 , - , style="text-align:center;background:#afe6ba;",

† , style="text-align:center;", , 11 , , 23 , , 58 , , 34 , , 154 , , 59 , , 213 , , 93 , , 18 , , 2.5 , , 1.5 , , 6.7 , , 2.6 , , 9.3 , , 4.0 , , 0.8 , , 3 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" , style="text-align:center;background:#afe6ba;",

† , style="text-align:center;", , 11 , , 22 , , 74 , , 30 , , 161 , , 42 , , 203 , , 102 , , 14 , , 3.4 , , 1.4 , , 7.3 , , 1.9 , , 9.2 , , 4.6 , , 0.6 , , 4 , - , style="text-align:center;background:#afe6ba;",

† , style="text-align:center;", , 11 , , 22 , , 78 , , 36 , , 161 , , 44 , , 205 , , 101 , , 15 , , 3.5 , , 1.6 , , 7.3 , , 2.0 , , 9.3 , , 4.6 , , 0.7 , , 5 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 11 , , 13 , , 40 , , 22 , , 78 , , 18 , , 96 , , 54 , , 2 , , 3.1 , , 1.7 , , 6.0 , , 1.4 , , 7.4 , , 4.2 , , 0.2 , , 2 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 306 ! 633 ! 357 ! 2512 ! 778 ! 3290 ! 1422 ! 199 ! 2.1 ! 1.2 ! 8.2 ! 2.5 ! 10.8 ! 4.6 ! 0.7 ! 43

Post-VFL/AFL career

Following his retirement from playing football, Lynch has commentated for

Fox Footy Fox Footy (stylised as FOX FOOTY) is an Australian rules football subscription television channel dedicated to screening Australian rules football matches and related programming. It is owned by Fox Sports Australia operated out of its Melbou ...

and also been a panelist on Bounce with Jason Dunstall, Danny Frawley and Andrew Gaze. He also co-wrote a book with Peter Blucher titled, "Taking Nothing For Granted", which was released in 2005.

Career highlights

* Mark of the Year 1989 * All Australian 1993 * Fitzroy Best and Fairest 1993 * Fitzroy Leading Goalkicker 1993 *

Leading Goalkicker 1996 *

Premiership player 2001, 2002, 2003 *

Leading Goalkicker 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lynch, Alastair 1968 births Living people People with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome All-Australians (AFL) Australian rules footballers from Tasmania Tasmanian State of Origin players Brisbane Bears players Brisbane Lions players Brisbane Lions premiership players Fitzroy Football Club players Mitchell Medal winners Australian rules footballers from Queensland Brisbane Lions captains Hobart Football Club players Doping cases in Australian rules football Australian sportspeople in doping cases Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame inductees VFL/AFL premiership players