Young’s Nathan Lyon will no doubt get a bronze statue in Young in the future. Will rate payers stump up for the monument or will funds be raised by other means.
A post on Young NSW Community Group during this summer’s cricket against the Indian national side has gained much traction and support since its posting.
The post read, “I’m going to say what everyone is thinking and ask that question, when is the Hilltops Council going to ‘pull their finger out’ and erect a Nathan Lyon statue? The man is the 3rd highest Australian wicket taker of all time and closing in on 2nd.
“If the budget can’t absorb the cost for a 25 meter bronze tribute to the great man, I’m sure the taxpayers would be happy with paying the real GST (GOAT (meaning greatest of all time), statue tax). If Wally can have one outside lang park having never won a comp, surely there’s room for the greatest ever outside Jack Bond Oval.”
While it’s clear a 25 metre statute will likely never happen and the comment contained some satire, Lyons’ ability to take wickets and continue to represent his country at a high level is evident.
However, with a rolling deficit of upwards of $50 million since the forced merger, rate payers may have to delve in to their pockets if the idea is to be turned to bronze.
Some ideas can make it to the bronze stage and Lyon’s cause has plenty of merit based on the position of the Bill the Bastard statue in Murrumburrah, which isn’t really suitable at all, but obviously had to go somewhere.
‘Bill’ as he was affectionately known started off as a passion project for a Harden sculptor which then turned in to styrofoam and clay, before being bronzed.
‘Bill’ really has no link to Harden in that he was from Liverpool in Sydney or at least sold at a sale there. His rider Major Michael Shanahan was from Darren Lockyer country in Roma in country Queensland. The story which brought both horse and man to prominence was the Battle of Romani and the saving of four Tasmanian soldiers.
Therefore the story spans three states and has been mounted in Murrumburrah close to where the birth- place of the 1st Australian horse infantry began in 1897.
When it comes to the Lyon’s post, many of those posting on the page were in agreeance with one commenter saying, “Totally agree, he should be celebrated as a local legend.” Another one said, “I said the same thing 2 years ago, Lyono is an inspiration and should be celebrated in his hometown.”
Some were a bit more pessimistic, with one person saying, “no chance with Hilltops Council……”
Many commented how good the IGA roundabout would be to place it.
Nathan Lyon is an offspinner whose work as a curator took him from Canberra to Adelaide, he completed a
remarkable rise when he was picked in Australia’s Test squad in July 2011. The previous year, he had taken up a job on the Adelaide Oval ground staff, and his bowling talent was spotted by South Australia’s Big Bash coach Darren Berry. Lyon impressed in T20s for South Australia, made his first-class debut, and within seven months was a Test cricketer.
A classical offspinner who flights the ball and looks for wickets, Lyon struck with his first delivery in Test cricket when he had Kumar Sangakkara caught at slip in Galle. It was part of a haul of 5 for 34 and the beginning of a career that would end Australia’s cycle of churning through Test spinners in the post-Warne era. By 2015, Lyon had become Australia’s most successful Test off spinner of all time, passing Hugh Trumble’s tally of 141 wickets, and he was affectionately nicknamed by his teammates as the GOAT – greatest of all time – as a result. Many more milestones followed. In 2023, against Pakistan in Perth, he joined the rare air of the 500 club.
Where do you think a Lyon statue would suit best?
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