SOME of Jim Stynes’ old mates gathered on Tuesday night in the Gaelic football clubroom where his teenage championship team photo hangs on the wall, and the Australian rules football he signed as a gift is still on show
There was as much laughter as regret. Sean Flynn was chairman of the juvenile section of the club when Stynes began as a 10-year-old. He still can't help but chuckle every time he remembers how the tall, stubborn lad in centre field, six foot by the time he was 11, effortlessly stymied the opposition every time. Other teams would put two or three players on him but he would still snatch the ball and burst forward with it. ''He was just as exciting at that early level - 11, 12, 13 - as he was an adult,'' Mr Flynn told The Age earlier in the day. ''The opposition couldn't deal with him at all.'' A former teammate, Ben Molloy, remembers his ability to take the hard knocks. ''If he got a few belts from the other players he would never complain. The other teams could never understand how he would just get back up and play football.''
"He wasn't a natural student. He wouldn't have been top-notch in terms of intelligence, but he made up for it in terms of hard work."
He said he was extremely well liked by teachers and fellow students. "People were on to me last night just to chat; they just wanted to talk a little bit about him."
Stynes attended the college from 1978 until he left for Australia in 1984.
History teacher Eugene Ryan, who played the YouTube video for his students, said: "I think the students are always interested in those who have sat in the same desks. He's a good role model for them."
The college was flying its flag at half-mast in Stynes' memory and there was to be a minute's silence at a school-related rugby match overnight.
A day earlier, some of Stynes' old mates gathered in the Ballyboden St Endas Gaelic football clubroom where his teenage championship team photo hangs on the wall, and the Australian rules football he signed as a gift is still on show.
There was as much laughter as regret. Sean Flynn was chairman of the juvenile section of the club when Stynes began as a 10-year-old. He still can't help but chuckle every time he remembers how the tall, stubborn lad in centre field, six foot by the time he was 11, effortlessly stymied the opposition every time. Other teams would put two or three players on him but he would still snatch the ball and burst forward with it. ''He was just as exciting at that early level - 11, 12, 13 - as he was an adult,'' Mr Flynn told The Age earlier in the day. ''The opposition couldn't deal with him at all.'' A former teammate, Ben Molloy, remembers his ability to take the hard knocks. ''If he got a few belts from the other players he would never complain. The other teams could never understand how he would just get back up and play football.''
"He wasn't a natural student. He wouldn't have been top-notch in terms of intelligence, but he made up for it in terms of hard work."
He said he was extremely well liked by teachers and fellow students. "People were on to me last night just to chat; they just wanted to talk a little bit about him."
Stynes attended the college from 1978 until he left for Australia in 1984.
History teacher Eugene Ryan, who played the YouTube video for his students, said: "I think the students are always interested in those who have sat in the same desks. He's a good role model for them."
The college was flying its flag at half-mast in Stynes' memory and there was to be a minute's silence at a school-related rugby match overnight.
A day earlier, some of Stynes' old mates gathered in the Ballyboden St Endas Gaelic football clubroom where his teenage championship team photo hangs on the wall, and the Australian rules football he signed as a gift is still on show.
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