michael lynagh

[Ken Gargett]

not sure how widely this has been made public but here in qld, we have reports that michael lynagh has been hospitalised with what seems to be a stroke. rugby fans around the world will need no introduction to the bloke - a former wallaby captain and australia's greatest ever fly half (with the possible exception of paul mclean but here is probably not the place to debate their respective merits), it was his grace under pressure that saved us in the 1991 and got us through to our first world cup win. amongst many other great memories. i can remember that there was huge hype about him as a school player and i went down to the grounds at uni to watch his first game for the uni club. it was clear from the first minutes that he was a very special talent.

this came as a great shock to me (not because i knew the bloke - i only 'met' him once when i was much the worse for wear and he kindly assisted me, a nice gesture from a stranger) but because not only is he a few years younger than i am but he was always the perfect role model for his game. if this had happened to any number of footy players who carried on in the manner that footy players are famous for, then no surprise. just shows you how precarious life can be and i, and i am sure all rugby fans, wish him the very best and swiftest recoveries.

[mazolaman]

yep, sad news, I can remember him gazelle stepping along the line....