Stynes and Prince wow the crowds Down Under

AN Irishman showing a British prince how to play Australian Rules, you couldn’t make it up.

Yesterday Dublin’s Jim Stynes, president of the Melbourne Football Club, spent the afternoon showing Prince William the finer points of the Aussie game at the badly hit flood village of Murrabit, in northern Victoria.

With the Queen visiting Ireland later this year it was a momentous encounter and Stynes didn’t miss a beat.

“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.”

The prince spent the last official visit of his Australian tour visiting the region and ended it at a barbecue where Stynes and Australian cricketer Peter Siddle were on hand.

While most engaged in pleasantries the former ruckman and cult hero, who is battling cancer at the moment, couldn’t help but teach the heir to the british crown a few of the finer points of handballing and kicking a Sherrin (football).

The young Windsor showed instant aptitude, booting the ball with confidence and at one point taking some satisfaction in punting it over the heads of the media pack.