When AFL boss Andrew Demetriou told Jim Stynes he was “crazy” to take the helm at embattled club Melbourne in 2008, it was just what the former Demons star wanted to hear.

Off the field as well as on it, Stynes’ mind and body were fuelled by challenges.

He endured countless injuries to play an unmatched 244 consecutive games, prompting fellow Gaelic football import Sean Wight to say: “It’s as if the greater the challenge, the stronger he gets.”

Melbourne’s administration was in a mess in 2008 when Stynes was considering running for president in a bid to turn the league’s oldest club around.

“I can remember the meeting when Jim came to my office and he was contemplating taking on the presidency because he was almost despairing of what was going on,” Demetriou said on Tuesday.

“I told him he was crazy – but I sought of knew then that that was exactly the challenge that he wanted.

“And he formed an excellent board and restructured and rebuilt the club and retired their debt.

“It’s an incredible legacy for the Melbourne football club.

“He then displayed all of those attributes in his battle with his illness – caring for others, thinking about others.”

Demetriou said Stynes’ work at Melbourne would “long be remembered as a great turning point” in the club’s history, culminating in the eradication of a $5 million debt.

Demetriou said the story of Jim Stynes was the most unique in the history of the AFL.

Stynes died from cancer on Tuesday at the age of 45.