When Alex Lyons was 17, his future looked blue, red and white. The former Kildare Catholic College boy had moved to Sydney to finish his HSC with an eye firmly to a career playing professional rugby league for the Sydney Roosters, a dream he had achieved by the time he reached his eighteenth birthday. Eight years later, the 26-year-old is selling some of Australia's most expensive homes as an associate director at Raine and Horne in Sydney's Double Bay. The local boy has even had a turn on the silver screen, cropping up on real estate reality series Luxe Listings this month showcasing a Point Piper waterfront mansion. The luxury home came complete with a jetty directly onto Sydney Harbour, sweeping city views and unique copper-based design that Alex eventually sold for a reported $40 million. The polished Sydney real estate scene is a world away from the mud and guts of the footy pitch he played on for the Sydney Roosters. The gear change came sooner in life than expected for Alex after a major head injury saw him knocked out of professional sports for good in 2015. "Playing footy was always my big focus, that was always my dream but obviously through injury unfortunately I had to cut that short," Alex said. "I finished up for the Roosters just before my 21st birthday, I had a concussion and a couple of brain bleeds and had to give it away after that." He said the only scary part of the experience was not knowing how extensive the damage was to his brain, though thankfully five years on he has made a full recovery. "With the brain, it sort of affected everything, it affected my mood and I couldn't sort of sit in a room with the lights on," he said of the aftermath of his last accident. "I couldn't look at the computer screen, it was a bit confusing for a couple of months." Alex's dad Mark Lyons who lives in Wagga said his son has never been one to sit around for too long. The then-21-year-old was soon back on his feet and running after a new career in real estate. "I was very proud of him the way he handled it," Mr Lyons said. "It's a tough thing, it was his dream and then he had to stop and do something else. "He struggled a little bit at first but he forged on, it was hard but he's done well." Alex said success didn't come overnight. "It took a while, this is my fifth year in it and the first three years not much happened but now it is starting to go pretty well," he admitted. "Well" encompasses a string of multi-million dollar sales in a matter of months, Alex describing the year so far as "crazy" with dozens of sales ranging from $800,000 to $40 million. He said he was contacted to appear on episode three of Luxe Listings this year off the back of the sale successes, saying he hopes he brought some down-to-earth Wagga attitude to the often extravagant TV series. "I suppose I brought more of a relaxed country style, that's my approach," Alex said. "I've sort of always been a bit quieter and level and I've been taught to treat people how I want to be treated." At 26 years old, Alex has hit the big time in both careers he has embarked on, and says his success on the field and on the market is down to the same trait. "I am a bit of a competitive person and the same thing that got me to Sydney playing footy, I sort of applied that to my professional career as well," he said. "It's wins and losses and keeping your end goal in sight - just having the same structure, same stuff you do everyday to get you closer to where you want to be." Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
