Australian Football

Four times a Mulrooney Medallist, recipient of the 1990 Alex Jesaulenko Medal for the best player in the ACTAFL Grand Final, and five times winner of Queanbeyan's best and fairest award (an award which ended up bearing his own name), Tony Wynd was undoubtedly one of the ACT's most decorated, and arguably among its very finest, footballers.

At his peak as a 23-year-old in 1987, Wynd was selected in the Australian combined rules team to tour Ireland, a rare honour for a player outside of the 'elite' southern states competitions. Wynd's considerable pedigree was apparent from very early on, however: as a 16-year-old in 1981, he had captained the ACT's Teal Cup side, and at the end of the competition had been chosen as an All Australian.

Two years later, he won the first of his Mulrooney Medals, and whereas such achievements sometimes pass over the heads of younger players, in Wynd's case the impact was considerable:

"It was pretty amazing when I won the Medal," he recalled five years later. "I was only 19 and not really ready for it. I was speechless for five minutes. It was big for the club - their first Medal for 20 years - and they made an even bigger thing out of it."¹

Wynd would go on to be a major contributor to a striking resurgence in fortunes at Queanbeyan which saw the club contest no fewer than eight Grand Finals in a row between 1985 and 1992, emerging victorious on four occasions. Later in the 1990s when the Tigers reemerged from a period in the comparative doldrums, Wynd was still a force to be reckoned with, and was a member of the club's 1998 and 1999 premierships sides before retiring after a League record 347 games.

In addition, Wynd represented the ACT no fewer than 41 times, which included a fair number of appearances as captain. Had he chosen to try and establish himself in a stronger competition interstate there seems little reason to suppose that he would not have enjoyed considerable success.

Author - John Devaney