TWO of Tyntynder’s favourite sons were made life members recently.
Incredibly, Luke Kelly joined his father Maurice and brother Adam as life members at the Bulldogs.
A star in the red, white and blue in the 1980s, Damian Wilson was also afforded the honour.
Kelly started at Tyntynder as a junior and went on to play 200 games for the Dogs.
He was 30 when he retired in 2007 and has been a selector for the past two seasons. He is more than likely to take the job on again in 2014.
Kelly played at a time of great success for Tyntynder.
“I was lucky enough to play in the three flags [1997-98-99],” he said.
Kelly captained the seniors for a couple of years and coached the under 17s to a premiership in 2002 after he finished playing.
But despite his standing as a popular club-person, those in the know managed to keep the life membership secret from Kelly before it was awarded to him at the annual general meeting late last year.
“I was wondering who they were talking about when they were reeling that stuff off actually,” Kelly laughed.
Making the occasion all the more memorable for Kelly was receiving the award from club icon Licky Worner, himself a life member of Tyntynder and of the old Mid Murray Football League.
Kelly said he sees the upcoming season as part of a rebuilding phase for the Bulldogs, with a number of established stars moving towards the end of their careers.
“This year we’ve got a very good bunch of juniors coming through and they’ll definitely get their chance to step up,” he said.
“We’ve got some older players nearing the end and the next crop will be the ones to take us to the next premiership.”
Wilson also played juniors at the Bulldogs, moving into his senior career just as Tyntynder embarked on an extraordinary run through the 1980s.
The Dogs played in nine grand finals in the 80s, winning five flags — and Wilson played in all of them.
He played for Tyntynder 219 times, as well as representing the Mid Murray at interleague level.
Wilson has been active on the club’s committee, serving a year as secretary and being well known for organising past player reunions.
Rod Carroll said Wilson, who also coached the under 15s for a season, had had a “wide and varied existence within the club”.
“He’s recognised as one of the staunch red, white and blue footy club people,” he said.
Carroll said life memberships were not awarded on playing career statistics alone.
“They’re hard to earn and these two are deserved recipients,” he said.
