MATISSE Stynes’ moving address at the 2026 Play It Forward Luncheon left the room in tears, with many in attendance wishing others could have heard it.
We’re proud to share her powerful words on Jim’s legacy, football’s capacity for good and the people helping play it forward.
Speech written and delivered by Matisse Stynes
Play It Forward Luncheon, 2026
With Melbourne and Carlton playing a knockout final tomorrow, it is great to have representatives from both clubs here, committed to the positive role football can play beyond the boundary line.
Supporting the players are countless people working behind the scenes to create opportunities and drive meaningful change.
They are some of football’s unsung heroes.
And I’d especially like to acknowledge Clare Pettyfor, Ellie Devenish and Alex Fisher, this day is very much your baby.
Most importantly, thank you to every person in this room.
These are not easy times. Yet today, you have chosen to be here and that matters enormously.
My dad, Jim, championed change. He believed progress meant recognising the best in a culture and lifting it higher.
That feels particularly relevant today.
There is often frustration that positive stories don’t attract enough attention that giving back somehow isn’t interesting enough to make the news.
I think goodness is incredibly powerful.
In fact, I think good is sexy.
By that, I mean we’re drawn to people who show courage, kindness and generosity, people who make us want to be better versions of ourselves.
We saw that this week in the extraordinary response to the passing of legendary Dolly Parton, a woman remembered not simply for her talent, but for her generosity, humanity and what she gave back. Closer to home, we see it in the way Australians came together for Neale Daniher’s Fight against MND.
Football has an extraordinary capacity to inspire that same kind of goodness.
Daisy Pearce recently put it simply: just be a good human.
Our hope is for Play It Forward to continue growing in stature, bringing together football, community, business, government and media to celebrate what is good and help build more of it.
Max Gawn has spoken beautifully about Dad as his mentor, and how Dad’s values still help shape him into the best version of himself, even 14 years on. Perhaps that is what legacy really is.
Goodness doesn’t end when a person does. It takes on a new leader.
It moves through people, through what we teach, what we inspire, and what we choose to pass on.
And when that happens, something of Dad is still here still moving, still influencing, still being played forward.
Thank you for being here today, and for being an integral part of Playing It Forward.
