West Perth Falcons perch in Lynch family tree

THE rise of women’s football has made brother-sister combinations a reality for WAFL clubs like West Perth.

Aidan (22), Conal (19) and Keely (15) Lynch are the Falcons’ first siblings to feature across West Perth’s men’s and women’s teams at Arena Joondalup.

All three are soccer converts who didn’t pull on a football guernsey until high school.

But Aidan explained the Mariginiup siblings picked up the game quickly to land spots in the higher echelon of the sport.

“Keely got on board with the Mater Dei school program they’ve got running there,” he said.

“Conal and I, when we were about 15, changed from soccer to footy.

“We’d always had little kicks with each other in the backyard… but it wasn’t until we all got to about 15, that we all started playing for school, our club and then West Perth.”

The Lynches are sports fanatics so it’s little surprise their athletic endeavours have crossed at some point.

But it was somewhat of a lottery for elite football to emerge as a shared focus.

Their backyard battles could take an array of shapes.

“It was just really any sport – cricket, netball, basketball, footy and soccer – no real particular sport,” Aidan said. “It’s just now that we’re all into footy.”

Keely’s transition to West Perth in the Rogers Cup under-18s competition was an obvious one after watching her brothers play at the club for a number of years.

Aidan said Keely would be in the stands with a fourth Lynch sibling Erin and their parents most weeks.

“She really got passionate about supporting West Perth… then when she and her friends got a chance to play for West Perth, they took it,” he said.

Aidan has played nearly 50 WAFL league games after a decorated stint in reserves where he won a premiership and claimed the Prendergast Medal as the competition’s fairest and best.

Conal made his league debut this year, playing two matches in rounds 15 and 16. He has featured 30 times in the reserves.