| Garry Lyon | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Lyon in 2008 | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Garry Peter Lyon | ||
| Date of birth | (1967-09-13)13 September 1967 (age 57) | ||
| Place of birth | Devonport, Tasmania | ||
| Original team(s) | Kyabram (GVFL) | ||
| Height | 193 cm (6 ft 4 in) | ||
| Weight | 96 kg (212 lb) | ||
| Position(s) | Centre half-forward | ||
| Playing career | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1986–1999 | Melbourne | 226 (426) | |
| Representative team honours | |||
| Years | Team | Games (Goals) | |
| 1988–1995 | Victoria | 10(9) | |
| Coaching career | |||
| Years | Club | Games (W–L–D) | |
| 2001–2004 | Australia | 8 (2–5–1) | |
| Career highlights | |||
Club
Representative
| |||
| Sources:AFL Tables,AustralianFootball.com | |||
Garry Peter Lyon (born 13 September 1967) is a former professionalAustralian rules football player and was captain of theMelbourne Football Club in theAustralian Football League (AFL). Since his retirement from football, he has been mainly an Australian rules football media personality, featuring on television, radio and in newspapers. He has also coached during theInternational Rules Series. He is the most recent VFL/AFL player to kick ten goals in a finals match, having done so in the1994 Second Semi-Final againstFootscray, and the first since Geelong'sGeorge Goninon in1951, 43 years prior.
Lyon, the son of formerHawthorn playerPeter Lyon, was born inDevonport,Tasmania. In his youth he moved toVictoria.
Lyon was recruited from theKyabram Football Club and debuted in 1986 with the Melbourne Football Club, playing in the1988 VFL Grand Final. He quickly became a dominant player in the Victorian Football League (VFL), later renamed theAustralian Football League (AFL), winning his firstMelbourne 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 the1997 season due to the club's belief that he would suffer from too many injuries. Lyon was known for playing with many back injuries, and his presence on the field despite such adversity saw him as an inspiration to teammates.[1]
Lyon finished his career having won two Melbourne best and fairest awards and being named in threeAll-Australian teams. His career ended as a result of increasing back problems. A broken leg, footage of which was often played onThe AFL Footy Show, ended his1987 season. In the end, he finished with 226 VFL/AFL games and 426 goals in1999, giving him the fourth-best all-time goal tally for a Melbourne player.[2]
Lyon had a successfulState of Origin career forVictoria, first being selected in 1988 againstWestern Australia. In 1989 he played in afamous game againstSouth Australia, whereTony Lockett,Jason Dunstall andDermott Brereton all played in the same forward line, performing well being named in the best players.[3] In 1991, Lyon scored one goal against South Australia. He was selected again in 1992 against the same opposition. In 1993, he performed on the big stage in theState of Origin Carnival grand final against South Australia, kicking three goals and being named in the best players.[4] In 1994, he was named Captain of Victoria, in what he has described as "a great honour".[5] In 1995, he was named vice-captain against South Australia, scoring one goal.[6] Lyon is a big supporter of Victoria and State of Origin and has said in reference to playing State of Origin that he "loved it".[7] He is also a big supporter of State of Origin being reintroduced,[8] and he has described training and playing with the best players in the game as a "dream come true" and "it took the experience of playing football to another level".[9] He has said that the great players of today should be afforded the same honour.[10]
Lyon's media career began in the early 1990s when he hosted the AFL-themedchildren's programAFL Squadron.[11] He moved into radio in the late 1990s on3AW, and in 2004 he hostedMorning Glory onSEN 1116. In 2005, he returned to 3AW, and he appeared onSports Today as well as providing special comments for the station's AFL coverage. In 2007, Lyon moved toTriple M where he provided special comments on Friday Night and Saturday afternoon matches until the end of 2015.
Lyon became a regular panelist onThe AFL Footy Show late in his playing career. In 2006, alongsideJames Brayshaw, he took the hosting reins of the program afterEddie McGuire became CEO of theNine Network. Previously he had worked alongside Brayshaw onThe Sunday Footy Show and in 2005 onAny Given Sunday, as well as being a presenter of theMelbourne Commonwealth Games 2006 coverage on Nine. In 2007 he became a panelist on the programFooty Classified.
Lyon is a columnist forThe Age newspaper and has co-authored children's books, including those in theSpecky Magee series withFelice Arena.
In 2017, Lyon returned to SEN to co-host its breakfast program withTim Watson. Later that year, Lyon ended his long association with theNine Network to joinFox Footy as a commentator and panelist onOn The Couch. In 2022, Lyon commenced hostingOn The Couch in addition to Friday Night Football for the station.
Following the Melbourne premiership win, Lyon had the honour of presenting the2021 AFL premiership cup to captainMax Gawn and coachSimon Goodwin inPerth following the Demons winning their first flag in 57 years.
Since his retirement, Lyon has dabbled in coaching. He has coached theAustralia international rules football team, debuting in 2001, and he remained coach for four successive seasons before being replaced byKevin Sheedy. His International rules record is two wins from four series.
While many thought he might be a future coach of the Melbourne Football Club, Lyon chose not to pursue this path. In 2009, he coached the Victorian under-16 representative side at the AFL championships.[12]
| Brownlow Medal votes | |
| Season | Votes |
|---|---|
| 1986 | 3 |
| 1987 | 1 |
| 1988 | — |
| 1989 | 3 |
| 1990 | 9 |
| 1991 | — |
| 1992 | — |
| 1993 | 5 |
| 1994 | 10 |
| 1995 | 9 |
| 1996 | — |
| 1997 | — |
| 1998 | — |
| 1999 | — |
| Total | 40 |
| Key: | |
| Green /Bold =Won | |
G | Goals | K | Kicks | D | Disposals | T | Tackles |
B | Behinds | H | Handballs | M | Marks |
| Season | Team | No. | Games | Totals | Averages (per game) | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | B | K | H | D | M | T | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | ||||
| 1986 | Melbourne | 3 | 20 | 26 | 18 | 215 | 65 | 280 | 70 | — | 1.3 | 0.9 | 10.8 | 3.3 | 14.0 | 3.5 | — |
| 1987 | Melbourne | 3 | 18 | 28 | 20 | 189 | 76 | 265 | 69 | 21 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 10.5 | 4.2 | 14.7 | 3.8 | 1.2 |
| 1988 | Melbourne | 3 | 22 | 41 | 30 | 278 | 82 | 360 | 110 | 43 | 1.9 | 1.4 | 12.6 | 3.7 | 16.4 | 5.0 | 2.0 |
| 1989 | Melbourne | 3 | 15 | 20 | 12 | 230 | 57 | 287 | 89 | 18 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 15.3 | 3.8 | 19.1 | 5.9 | 1.2 |
| 1990 | Melbourne | 3 | 21 | 13 | 9 | 284 | 89 | 373 | 104 | 47 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 13.5 | 4.2 | 17.8 | 5.0 | 2.2 |
| 1991 | Melbourne | 3 | 18 | 11 | 11 | 235 | 125 | 360 | 79 | 39 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 13.1 | 6.9 | 20.0 | 4.4 | 2.2 |
| 1992 | Melbourne | 3 | 16 | 30 | 14 | 211 | 101 | 312 | 84 | 34 | 1.9 | 0.9 | 13.2 | 6.3 | 19.5 | 5.3 | 2.1 |
| 1993 | Melbourne | 3 | 18 | 36 | 37 | 242 | 100 | 342 | 120 | 17 | 2.0 | 2.1 | 13.4 | 5.6 | 19.0 | 6.7 | 0.9 |
| 1994 | Melbourne | 3 | 24 | 79 | 47 | 295 | 80 | 375 | 151 | 36 | 3.3 | 2.0 | 12.3 | 3.3 | 15.6 | 6.3 | 1.5 |
| 1995 | Melbourne | 3 | 20 | 77 | 46 | 233 | 44 | 277 | 109 | 25 | 3.9 | 2.3 | 11.7 | 2.2 | 13.9 | 5.5 | 1.3 |
| 1996 | Melbourne | 3 | 6 | 15 | 8 | 50 | 11 | 61 | 25 | 5 | 2.5 | 1.3 | 8.3 | 1.8 | 10.2 | 4.2 | 0.8 |
| 1997 | Melbourne | 3 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 27 | 6 | 33 | 13 | 3 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 5.4 | 1.2 | 6.6 | 2.6 | 0.6 |
| 1998 | Melbourne | 3 | 21 | 40 | 17 | 154 | 56 | 210 | 71 | 26 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 7.3 | 2.7 | 10.0 | 3.4 | 1.2 |
| 1999 | Melbourne | 3 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 6 | 19 | 9 | 1 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 6.5 | 3.0 | 9.5 | 4.5 | 0.5 |
| Career | 226 | 426 | 277 | 2656 | 898 | 3554 | 1103 | 315 | 1.9 | 1.2 | 11.8 | 4.0 | 15.7 | 4.9 | 1.5 | ||
Australian cricketerNathan Lyon is nicknamed "Garry", after Garry Lyon.
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