Jim Stynes has been remembered at his funeral as a man who inspired countless others both on the football field and beyond it.

Jim Stynes' best friend and former Melbourne teammate Garry Lyon has told his funeral there has never been anyone like the Irishman who inspired countless people on the football field and beyond.

A packed St Paul's Cathedral in central Melbourne and thousands more outside in Federation Square farewelled Stynes at his state funeral on Tuesday and remembered a man who matched his outstanding AFL feats with life-changing community work.

Stynes died last week from cancer, aged 45.

"The truth is that finding fault in anything he did was a fruitless exercise," said Lyon.

"I sat down and wrote a list of things that best described him as a footballer.

"Consistent, reliable, dependable, trustworthy, honest, strong, loyal, durable, courageous, caring and resilient.

"They are wonderful qualities to possess in a footballer - they're even more significant qualities to possess as a man.

"What I find most amazing of all is that of all the kids from around the world we could have attracted to the game ... we found him, Jim Stynes.

"And as result we may now never question the boundaries of what one man is capable of achieving on the playing field but also never question the ability of the same man to have that same impact away from it.

"There never has been anyone like Jim Stynes and there never will be, which is why we loved him and we miss him so much today."

Brian Stynes remembered his older brother as a man who was generous, loving and caring.

"He leaves a six foot seven gap in our lives that will always be empty," he said.

"I tried following in his footsteps but they were always too big."

Brian recalled how devastated his close-knit family was when Jim first left Dublin in 1984 to try his luck at Australian Rules football.

The weekly highlight for all family members was when Jim phoned home.

Film director Paul Currie, with whom Stynes co-founded the Reach Foundation charity, called him "a warrior poet who was ahead of his time".

And Stynes' wife Sam spoke of how many people had been touched by her husband's "gentleness and passion for life".

The cathedral was packed to its 1200 capacity to remember the man who came to Melbourne from Ireland as a Gaelic footballer in 1984 to try Australian Rules and ended up one of the game's greats.

He won the 1991 Brownlow medal, four Melbourne best and fairest awards and was twice named in the All-Australian team.

As well as being named in Melbourne's team of the century, he saved the ailing club when he took over its presidency in 2008.

In the cathedral, many former teammates and opponents mixed with the street kids he helped, the politicians who came to honour him and the family who have lost their husband, father, son and brother.

Melbourne AFL players arrived at the cathedral together wearing the club blazers that Stynes had presented to them only days before he died.

They formed a guard of honour as the coffin was carried from the cathedral at the end of the service while the Melbourne theme song played.

As the coffin emerged, the crowd in Federation Square, many decked out in Melbourne's blue and red, broke the silence that had reigned for nearly two hours with spontaneous applause.

A private wake was to be held for family and friends in the Jim Stynes room at the MCG.

Stynes will be cremated and his ashes spread in Ireland.