Advertisement
Screengrab/YouTube
Royal seal

Ireland's Aussie Rules legend Jim Stynes shows Prince William the ropes

Former Dublin footballer teaches future British king how to kick a ball the Australian way.

HAVE YOU HEARD the one about the Irishman, the Aussies and the British prince?

AFL legend and Dubliner Jim Stynes yesterday took the visiting Prince William through his paces with a footy during an official visit to one of Victoria’s flood-hit towns.

The president of the Melbourne Football Club – who is currently fighting cancer –  spent the afternoon showing the British royal how to kick and punch a ball the Australian way in the recovering village of Murrabit.

“This wouldn’t have happened 20 years ago,” he said.

“A lot’s changed in the world when an Irishman and an Englishman can get together without animosity. It’s a good day.”

And what of the young prince’s technique?

“He’s bloody strong, you can get a sense of that,” Stynes said after the lesson. ”He’s an athletic guy and we talked about injuries. It’s not easy to kick and handball a football for the first time, and he did it easily.”

Watch a video from the visit here>