Garry Lyon

Infobox afl player NEW
playername = Garry Lyon
fullname = Gareth Lyon
image capt = Garry Lyon in 2008

---

birthdate = birth date and age|1967|9|13|df=y
birthplace = Devonport, Tasmania
originalteam = Kyabram, Victoria
draftpick =
heightweight = 193cm / 96kg
position = Full-forward
dead = alive
deathdate =
deathplace =
currentclub = Retired
guernsey = Retired
years = 1986-1998
clubs = flagicon|Victoria AFL Mel
games(goals) = 226 (426)
nationalyears =
nationalteams =
nationalgames(goals) =
coach = coach
coachyears =
coachclubs =
coachgames(wins) =
statsend = 1998
careerhighlights =

*Melbourne captain 1991-1997
*Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medal 1990, 1994
*Melbourne Football Club leading goalkicker 1994, 1995
*State of Origin (Victoria) 1994
*All-Australian 1993, 1994, 1995
*International Rules Series (coach) ?-2004

Gareth 'Garry' Lyon (born 13 September 1967 in Devonport, Tasmania) is a former Australian rules footballer, who became known as being former captain of the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League.

He is also known as being a media personality.

Football career

Lyon was born in Devonport and attended Melbourne High School. He was recruited from Kyabram and debuted in 1986 with the Melbourne Football Club, playing in a Grand Final in 1988. He quickly became a dominant player in the AFL, winning his first Melbourne Football Club Best and Fairest Award in 1990. He became Melbourne's captain in 1991, and eventually became the longest-serving Melbourne captain in club history until he was released from the role after the 1997 season due to the club's belief that he would suffer from too many injuries. Lyon was known for playing with many alleged back injuries and his presence on the field despite such alleged adversity saw him as an inspiration to teammates. [Holmesby, R. and Main, J. (2005). "The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers. ISBN 1-86350-243-2" ]

Lyon finished his career having won two Melbourne Best and Fairest awards, three All-Australian teams. His career ended as a result of increasing back injuries and problems. A knee injury, footage of which is often played on "The AFL Footy Show" ended one of his seasons. In the end he finished with 223 AFL games and 423 goals, third best all-time for a Melbourne player.

Media career

Lyon became a football commentator, appearing on "The AFL Footy Show" late in his playing career as a panellist. Lyon, alongside James Brayshaw took the hosting reins of the program in 2006 after Eddie McGuire became CEO of the Nine Network. Previously he had worked alongside Brayshaw on "The Sunday Footy Show" and in 2005 on "Any Given Sunday", as well as being a presenter of the Melbourne Commonwealth Games 2006 coverage on Nine. Lyon has recently been involved in a controversial episode, where a fellow commentator, Sam Newman, groped a lingerie-clad mannequin to which he had attached a picture of The Age's chief football writer Caroline Wilson. Lyon failed to condemn this conduct, and was subsequently heckled at the 2008 TV Week Logies Awards.

His radio career began in the late 1990s on 3AW, and in 2004 he hosted "Morning Glory" on SEN 1116. In 2005 he returned to 3AW, and appeared on "Sports Today" as well as providing special comments for the station's AFL coverage. In 2007, Lyon moved to Triple M where he currently co-hosts Friday Night M Sport with James Brayshaw. He is a columnist for the "Herald Sun" newspaper, and has co-authored children's books including those in the "Specky Magee" series. He also helped write Specky and the Season of Champions with Felice Arena.

Coaching career

Lyon coached the Australian International Rules team to several tournaments against Ireland before coaching his last game in the October 2004 series. Lyon has three sons Benjamin, Thomas and Joshua.

External links

* [http://www.elitesports.com.au/glyon/media.html Elite Sports profile]
* [http://onski.blogspot.com/2007/04/gary-lyon-stretcher-vision.html Gary Lyon on Stretcher Vision]

References