Rugby star on the family ties that bind him to Brisbane

Welcome to CityChats, where Brisbane Times meets our city’s most interesting characters on our most iconic form of transport. This week, Queensland Reds five-eighth Tom Lynagh – son of Wallabies legend Michael Lynagh – reveals the moment he realised how big a move he was making when he joined the Reds, his favourite spot in Brisbane, and the sport he almost pursued before rugby union.

We meet Lynagh just outside the Howard Smith Wharves ferry terminal, as he hastily makes his way to board after a round of golf with former Reds teammate Jordan Petaia. For the record, he insists he won.

Can you tell us a bit about growing up in Europe?

I was born in Italy, in a little town called Montebelluna, and lived in Treviso, which is just north of Venice, for about three years. Then my family moved over to London after that, to a town called Richmond. I was there until I was 18, and then moved over to Brisbane in 2021. Life was pretty good before I moved to Brisbane. It’s gotten even better since I’ve been here.

What was the appeal of Brisbane beyond the footy side of things?

I knew how good of a lifestyle [change] that moving to Brisbane would be. I’d seen photos, heard stories from my dad’s childhood. My grandparents still live here, so they used to come and visit us a lot. I’d heard how great of a city it was, and I was just really excited for the opportunity to have a fresh start and move into a new city.

Was it always going to be rugby for you, or were there some other passions that you could have steered towards?

When I was about 12 years old, I wanted to be a pro football player, so soccer, and then quickly realised that I wasn’t good enough! So I turned my attentions to rugby. Around the same age I got into the Harlequins Academy over there, and when I got into the academy I put full focus into rugby and knew that’s what I wanted to focus on and try to make it in.

You’ve just signed on for another year with the Queensland Reds. Why did you decide to remain a Red?

It was no other option for me, really. I’m calling this place home now, I love it here. My little brother’s just moved here, so that’s another piece of my family moving over here. I’ve got grandparents very close by to me, so I go and see them every week. I just love this place – there’s not much to it. I mean the weather’s perfect all year round, there’s good golf courses, a lot of great restaurants and bars along the river. There’s a lot of stuff to keep you busy here.

Before you re-signed, a lot of pundits were thinking, ‘Could an overseas move be on the cards for this guy?’ There’s obviously the (Italian rugby club) Benetton connections with your brother Louis and the club partnership as well. Was it ever a consideration or were any talks had there?

There was a period where I didn’t really know what I was going to do. I wasn’t hearing many comms from Rugby Australia or the Reds, but in my heart it was a pretty simple decision. I’ve always wanted to stay here and plus with the Rugby World Cup happening here next year, it’s a pretty easy decision to stay.

You’ve always said how much you want to be a Wallaby. Last year was such a breakout year for you, to then be limited to 18 minutes in a season – how have you handled all that? Particularly when you came on such a high right up until that Argentina game last year?

Yeah, look, it’s been pretty tough, but I’ve had a great support system around me. All the boys at the Reds and staff and physios have really looked after me and always been there for me. But injury is always going to be a part of sport – you can’t play sport and not expect to (get injured or) expect to be fit all the time.

I feel like I’m pretty good at moving on from things. Last year was a great year for me, probably the best year of my life, and to only be limited to 18 minutes of footy so far this year has been pretty tough. I’m coping well. Hopefully in a few weeks we’ll get back on the park and we’ll go from there.

What’s the process like for you now? After not making the first Wallabies squad, have you had any conversations with head coach Les Kiss about what he needs to see from you to be able to potentially get on that plane?

Les has had his full focus in with the Queensland squad for the last couple of months, so a lot of the conversations I’ve had with him have been about getting back for the Reds and just trying to get back and play footy for them. In terms of the process for me, it’s probably getting back into playing club. I’d love to play some club footy this year if the opportunity presents itself, and then we’ll go from there.

There’s no way you’re going to make it onto a Wallaby squad if you’re not playing footy or haven’t played any footy this year.

Knowing that there will be some World Cup exposure here as well, how much of that is a driving factor for you, to get the chance to pull on not just the Reds jumper, but then the gold jumper in a home World Cup?

It’s pretty important. Suncorp’s my favourite stadium – it’s the best stadium I’ve played at. Last year for the first Lions game it was packed out, and what an unbelievable feeling it was to be running out there. It just feels like the crowd’s on top of you, and that’s exactly what you want as a footy player in the cauldron, to have all the support behind you. The prospect of a home World Cup is pretty special, and you’re only going to get it once in your career, realistically. It’s pretty special and hopefully I’m involved, but got to get back on the park first.

You’ve got your little brother Nic here as well now, has it felt more like home for that?

A little bit. He’s still as annoying as he was before we moved over! No, he’s enjoying it too. He’s going through everything that I sort of went through when I first got over here, realising how good of a place it is and how lucky we are to call this place home.

You’ve touched on how you’d heard about the lifestyle over here, but was it still a difficult transition for you? Or were you pretty committed to it once it happened?

I was pretty committed to it. I didn’t realise quite how big of a move it was, until the day I was leaving London, and I saw my mum crying. I didn’t quite realise how upset I made some people and how much it took a hit on them, but I was pretty excited for the opportunity. And just seeing that made me want to make this a successful trip and (now) I call this place home.

Are there any (favourite city) spots you’ve really picked up on over the past five years?

Just behind us, Felons is a pretty good spot. I’ve spent a lot of time there over the last five years. Any time some of my mates from home come visit, it’s the first place I take them. We’re pretty lucky to have a place like Felons in Brisbane, accessible to everyone, pretty easy place to get to. It’s a pretty special place.

You would have been about nine when London 2012 Games were going on. Is there much that you remember of that and what the Games over there managed to achieve?

I don’t remember a whole lot of the build-up, but I do remember watching a lot of the events and getting really inspired by it. Even the whole regeneration project that they did with the London Olympic Park, that’s something I studied when I was older in school, as part of geography. To watch all those events when I was younger, see a lot of the Team GB athletes, and how well they did there, all the gold medals they won, and how many people it inspired, it was really quite something, and it was a very special feeling around the country at the time.

We’re six years away from our own Olympics. Is there anything you think that the city can do better to prepare? Or anything that you think the city’s missing to really take advantage of that exposure?

I quite like the city how it is. There’s obviously a lot of development going on, Eagle Street Pier just behind us, that’s a new development going on. Queen’s Wharf over there, that’s something new that’s come in. There are a lot of projects that are going on around Brisbane in order to make sure that the city’s prepped for 2032 and making sure it’s a great place for everyone to come and visit.

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