If there’s a silver lining to the COVID 19 restrictions, Lincoln McCarthy and Jarryd Lyons have found it in the joys of fatherhood.
The pair, who were brilliant contributors in their first seasons at the Brisbane Lions last year, have been lapping up the extra time they get with their young sons.
Quality family time is something to be treasured for footballers in season and the two Lions were determined to make the most of the unusual situation the competition has faced.
McCarthy and his partner Tayla Fromm welcomed their first child Lenny into the world in January just as pre-season was in full swing.
When the AFL announced during round one that the competition would go on hold due to the pandemic, McCarthy knew he had to act quickly to get his family back to his hometown of Bordertown in South Australia.
While he was flying home from the Lions’ season opener with Hawthorn at the MCG, Tayla was packing their bags for an extended stay back home with her family.
“We pretty much dropped everything because we knew the borders would close,’’ he recalled.
“Being first time parents we didn’t really have that much of an idea what we needed to pack but we worked it out on the run and got a flight as quickly as we could.
“Once we got there Tayla’s parents moved out for to give us their home while we went into quarantine and they were just the greatest two weeks I could have hoped for.
“I couldn’t even leave the house to train so we spent all our time together and there were no distractions.
“I found myself spending hours just watching Lenny and it was amazing how much he changed just in that short amount of time, you could really see his personality starting to develop.
“We originally thought we’d go mad locked way for two weeks but we didn’t, we loved it.’’
Once the quarantine period ended the couple were thrilled to be able to allow their families time to get to know the newest addition.
There have been no cases of Covid 19 in Bordertown and with South Australia shut down, McCarthy was confident his family was safe.
“We were cautious early on, we were just not sure about how much contact to have with the family,’’ he said.
“But we were really lucky it was safe.
“It was the best six weeks of family time I’ve had in ten years.’’
McCarthy has returned to Brisbane now in readiness for the expected resumption of club based training.
Tayla and Lenny have remained in South Australia until it is clearer what the season will look like.
The livewire forward admits their temporary absence has left a gaping hole but he says he feels blessed to have enjoyed the unexpected time they had together.
“When there’s times of adversity there are always positives that come from them, you just have to find them.
“Fages always instils that in us and in this instance it was easy, in terms of a silver lining that was a massive one for us.’’
Lyons has a similar story.
His little boy Sebastian arrived in August last year, just as the Lions were gearing up for their first return to the finals in a decade.
Understandably the first weeks were hectic both at home and at the Club.
It’s fair to say Savahna Lyons had two exhausted men on her hands.
Lyons enjoyed his first off-season as a dad and says this extra period has enabled him to enhance the bond he forged with Sebastian over summer.
“It’s been great really, it’s just given me a chance to build a really strong connection with him,’’ he said.
“Obviously early on it was all about mum and we were playing and going deep into the finals so those first weeks it was a bit of a blur.
“Footy was also a pretty big focus too, but we’ve definitely made up for lost time.
“He’s standing up by himself and just starting to crawl and I’m there to see all those little milestones that I may have missed out on had we been spending the usual time at the club.
“That’s been the silver lining of this for me, just that time I might not have otherwise had to spend with him and I think it’s given me an experience of fatherhood that not everyone gets to have, I’m pretty grateful for that.’’
