The AFL is delighted to announce the four finalists for the 2023 Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award: Bailey Banfield (Fremantle), Ben Brown (Melbourne), Harry Cunningham (Sydney Swans) and Sam Docherty (Carlton).
Now in its 12th year, the prestigious award will be presented to the player who has best demonstrated the values of late Melbourne champion and former Demons President, Jim Stynes. This award goes to the heart of the sport, recognising those who are committed to helping others and making a difference in the community, and the way they represent the game on and off the field.
Bailey Banfield is dedicated to brightening the lives of children and young people through ambassador roles at the Starlight Children’s Foundation, Purple Hands Foundation and Millstar Foundation.
For the past five years Banfield has connected with patients at Starlight, regularly visiting patients on wards and taking part in activities in the Starlight Express Room for young children and LiveWire Room for teenagers.
At the start of 2023 the forward initiated a club-wide player ambassador program for Starlight to ensure children received visits from Fremantle players every fortnight, significantly strengthening the connection between the club and the foundation. He was also instrumental in helping raise more than $30,000 for Starlight through Fremantle’s fundraising campaign this season.
Through this role Banfield made a special connection with 14-year-old Milli Lucas, who tragically lost her battle with brain cancer in 2021. The Millstar Foundation was set up in her honour and Banfield has continued to support the family ever since.
Hailing from Broome, Banfield also volunteers his time to help disadvantaged young people in his role at Purple Hands – going above and beyond to connect with kids in the Kimberley to help encourage positive social behaviours.
Ben Brown has made a positive contribution to families and children living with illness and cancer through his ambassador role for The Good Friday Appeal and successful ‘Chop the Mop’ fundraising campaign for Challenge.
Shaving off his trademark curly locks for Challenge earlier this year, the forward rallied not only the Melbourne Football Club, but the entire community to raise more than $90,000. The campaign was incredibly special for Brown after the charity recently supported his aunt, uncle and cousin Grace during her long-term battle with Leukemia. The funds raised had a huge impact on families, whether it was helping those who had to travel long distances for treatment or supply Coles vouchers to keep food on the table.
In addition to his fundraising efforts, the 30-year-old is also a passionate advocate for gender equality, diversity and inclusion and has volunteered his time to a number of causes. This includes being an active ambassador for Stand Up Events, a not-for-profit association fighting gender and sexual discrimination in Australian sport, Lend a Hand to Hugo, a Tasmanian-based charity committed to improving the lives of children on the autism spectrum and with disabilities, as well as lending his voice to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre.
Harry Cunningham has been a strong supporter and ambassador of Redkite, Sydney’s charity partner, for more than 10 years. During this time the veteran defender has made regular ward visits, supported Redkite’s music therapy program and helped campaign for numerous fundraising activities to help families facing childhood cancer.
In 2020 when Covid impacted in-person visits to hospital, Cunningham proactively asked how he could continue to be involved and attended music therapy sessions with families via Zoom. In the same year he also supported the promotion of the ‘Crunch for Kids’ fundraising challenge, rallying 20 players and coaches to get involved in the promotion which raised more than $50,000.
Each season Sydney and Redkite come together for the Swans Redkite Day and Cunningham is always at the forefront of the fundraising campaign. This year, the club raised a record-breaking amount of more than $43,000. The 184-gamer constantly leads from the front and took it upon himself to get other players involved with Redkite, educating his teammates that ‘small things can make a big difference’.
Sam Docherty has provided a beacon of hope to those in the community battling illness after recovering twice from testicular cancer, with his inspirational story leading to multiple fundraising campaigns within the football community.
Launched in 2021 the ‘Do It for Doc’ initiative not only helped raise $220,000 for the Peter MacCallum Cancer Foundation to support life-saving cancer research, but his voice and position also encouraged more people in the community to book a checkup with their doctor. Docherty now holds a voluntary role as an Observer on the Board of the Peter Mac Cancer Foundation and is an ambassador for the Peter Mac Cup, which takes place between Carlton and Collingwood every year and is the longest-running charity match in the AFL.
The defender and former Blues co-captain is also an ambassador for Paws4Kids which is a program run through MacKillop Family Services. This initiative allows more vulnerable children to get back to the classroom through the support of therapy dogs.
Always thinking of ways he can make a positive impact, Doc helped Carlton team up with North Melbourne and fellow cancer survivor, Ben Cunnington, to create the first Good Friday Superclash, ultimately raising more than $200,000 for the Good Friday Appeal and drawing the biggest crowd attendance in this fixture’s history of 49,062.
The 2023 Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award will be presented during the broadcast of the 2023 Brownlow Medal on Monday, September 25.
AFL Chief Executive Gillon McLachlan said honouring the late Jim Stynes through this award will always be a special moment for the league.
“Footy is more than just on-field achievements, we are incredibly proud of the work our players do in the community to make change, raise awareness for worthy causes and positively impact the lives of so many people,” McLachlan said.
“Our finalists have all displayed compassion, leadership and commitment to help people in the community which are all values that go to the core of this award. We’re lucky to have them as role models within footy and acknowledge the contribution they’ve made across a number of years.”
Past winners include Geelong Cats’ Joel Selwood (2022), Port Adelaide’s Travis Boak (2021), Richmond’s Bachar Houli (2020), GWS GIANTS’ Stephen Coniglio (2019), Melbourne's Neville Jetta (2018), Port Adelaide's Jack Hombsch (2017), Geelong Cats’ Jimmy Bartel (2016), Carlton's Dennis Armfield (2015), West Coast Eagles' Beau Waters (2014), Gold Coast Suns' Zac Smith (2013) and Richmond's Daniel Jackson (2012).
Nominations for the award are formed from AFL Clubs and the AFL Players' Association before the judging panel selected the final four finalists.
Proudly supported by Telstra and the Jim Stynes Foundation, the winner will receive $40,000 to be donated to the charity or community program of their choice.
About the Jim Stynes Foundation
The Jim Stynes Foundation (JSF) perpetuates the work of the late Jim Stynes. Like Jim, the Foundation supports disadvantaged youth through his passion for sport, his allies and his charitable inceptions.
Public in nature, the Jim Stynes Foundation is a Public Ancillary Fund (PuAF) that distributes funds to worthy and specifically chosen registered charities. As a PuAF the public are invited to and can contribute to the Foundation. All contributions are then distributed to registered charities, as determined by the Foundation’s Board.
The 2023 Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award selection panel includes:
Trisha Squires – Chair of Jim Stynes Foundation & Head of AFL Queensland
Sam Ludbey-Stynes – Jim Stynes Foundation
Luke Darcy – Network Seven & Triple M
Andrew Dillon – Incoming AFL CEO
Jude Donnelly – AFL, Head of Government Relations & Corporate Social Responsibility
Sarah Fair – AFL Executive General Manager – People
Neil Mitchell – 3AW Broadcaster
Brett Murphy – AFL PA Representative
Kim Williams – Former AFL Commissioner
