Jim Stynes is back in focus ahead of Sunday’s Jim’s Game, with Brisbane co-captain Harris Andrews set to launch a new Beyond DV Bursary funded by the $40, 000 grant attached to the 2025 Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award. The announcement comes as Sam Ludbey-Stynes, widow of the late Melbourne great, reflects on Andrews’ approach to leadership and community impact. The bursary is designed to support young men who have been affected by domestic and family violence.
Jim’s Game sets the stage
Sunday’s clash between Melbourne and Brisbane is being played as Jim’s Game in support of the Jim Stynes Foundation and in celebration of Stynes’ legacy. The occasion also marks the launch of the Harris Andrews Bursary, which has been established with Beyond DV. Two young teens have already been selected as the inaugural recipients, though they cannot be identified.
The bursary will provide a one-off financial payment of $1, 500 to young men who have been impacted by domestic and family violence and who show promise in sport, academia or the arts. Andrews, who has been an ambassador for Beyond DV since 2017, has donated the full $40, 000 grant from the award to the organisation.
What Andrews says the work is for
Andrews said his motivation is to help even one young man at a time, because that kind of support can shape attitudes and behaviours beyond the immediate moment. He added that if one young person learns something, that message can spread further through mates, school or the local footy club.
Sam Ludbey-Stynes said Andrews’ commitment reflects the values the Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award was created to recognise. She said it is meaningful to see the award’s inaugural recipient using his platform in elite sport to create impact that is both meaningful and lasting. The Jim Stynes legacy, she said, has always been about supporting young people through opportunity, connection, education and wellbeing.
Why this matters now
The current moment places leadership at the centre of the story. The conversation around Andrews has focused not only on performance on the field, but on the role a player can play in helping young people make positive and healthy changes in their relationships. That is the practical purpose behind the bursary and the wider Beyond DV work.
The emphasis is on prevention, encouragement and access. In that sense, Jim Stynes remains present in the way this initiative is framed: young people being given a clearer path, and the responsibility of influence being used with care.
What comes next
The immediate next step is Sunday’s Jim’s Game, where the launch of the bursary will sit alongside the annual tribute to Stynes. From there, the focus will turn to the first recipients and the support they receive through the program. For Andrews, the message is plain: the Jim Stynes legacy continues through action, and the next chapter begins with jim stynes and the young people this bursary is meant to reach.
