NEWS ROUND-UP:FORMER DUBLIN minor footballer and legendary Aussie Rules ruckman Jim Stynes announced yesterday that he has been diagnosed with cancer.
Currently president of the Melbourne Demons, the club he has been associated with since leaving Ireland after winning an All-Ireland minor medal in 1984, Stynes has stated his intention to return to work next year.
“I’m not stepping down from Melbourne,” said Stynes. “I’m not walking away. But I will be taking a break and I’ll need to take the rest of the season off so I can focus on this and focus on my family.”
“Three weeks ago I found I had a small lump on my back, just random,” Stynes said in an emotional press conference. “I found out it was cancerous so I was sent in to do a whole lot of follow-up tests. I thought it might be located in that one area but it’s not. It’s spread quite a bit and I have a journey to go on.”
The 43-year-old – the only non-Australian to receive a Brownlow medal, the highest individual honour in the AFL – played 264 times for Melbourne, including a record 244 consecutive matches between 1987 and 1998.
Galway’s longest serving GAA official Miko Ryan will decide today whether to appeal against an eight-week suspension.
The Galway hurling board chairman was suspended after an investigation into an altercation with Galway hurling selector John Moylan in the second half of their Leinster semi-final against Kilkenny in Tullamore on June 20th.
It is understood that Ryan attempted to stop a physio from entering the field and selector Moylan took exception to his interfering in team matters.
Seán Cavanagh has submitted a letter of exoneration as part of Derry defender Kevin McGuckian’s case to the Central Hearings Committee. McGuckian is seeking to overturn the four-week suspension arising from the straight red card he received in the Ulster semi-final defeat to Tyrone.
Monaghan’s Tommy Freeman takes his eight-week suspension, arising from an alleged head-butt in the Ulster quarter-final defeat to Derry, to the Dispute Resolution Authority today. Freeman is seeking an reversal in order to play against Armagh tomorrow.
