Kevin James Ryan, born 26 August 1934 in

Ipswich, Queensland Ipswich () is a city in South East Queensland, Australia. Situated on the Bremer River, it is approximately west of the Brisbane central business district. The city is renowned for its architectural, natural and cultural heritage. Ipswich p ...

is an Australian, former state parliamentarian and local

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and givin ...

and advocate. In the 1950s and 1960s he was an Australian dual-code rugby international representative and had previously been a

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

amateur boxing champion in 1958 and 1959, who trialled for the 1960 Olympics.

Background

Raised in the

Somerset Region The Somerset Region is a local government area located in the West Moreton region of South East Queensland, Australia, about northwest of Brisbane and centred on the town of Esk. It was created in 2008 from a merger of the Shire of Esk and t ...

Linville, Queensland Linville is a rural town and locality in the Somerset Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Linville had a population of 156 people. History On 19 August 1841, the Balfour brothers - John, Charles and Robert, took up Colinton run which inclu ...

to May Helena Ryan and her husband Matthew a bushman and horseman, he learnt the rudiments of boxing as a young boy.Writer p405-409 He attended boarding-school for his high-school years at

St Joseph's College, Nudgee , motto_translation = A Sign of Faith , location = Boondall, Queensland , country = Australia , coordinates = , other_name = St. Joseph's Nudgee College , former_name ...

from 1948 to 1952 where he started to play

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

Rugby union career

After school Ryan played seven seasons with the

Brisbane Brothers The Past Brothers Rugby League Football Club, or Brisbane Brothers Rugby League Football Club nicknamed the Leprechauns, or more commonly known as Brothers, or as The Brethren, was a rugby league club based in the city of Brisbane, Australia, ...

club from 1953 to 1959. In the Writer interview he refers to a senior

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

role that he performed in his final two years at the club and he spoke of the loyalty he felt to the club in 1959 when having agreed terms with

St George Saint George ( Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

and having achieved his rugby union representative ambitions, he played out the 1959 season with

Brothers A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-familia ...

and helped them win the 1959 Brisbane Club Premiership. He was selected in the squad for the 1957–58 Australia rugby union tour of Britain, Ireland and France. He made his international representative debut in the 3rd Test match of the tour, that against

England national rugby union team The England national rugby union team represents England in men's international rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. England have won the championship on 29 occasion ...

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boro ...

on 1 February 1958. Australian were beaten 9–6. Following the tour's end he made four further appearances for the

Wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and som ...

in 1958, firstly against a visiting NZ Maori All Blacks side and then in all three Tests against the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

on the Wallabies 1958 tour of New Zealand.

Rugby league career

St. George

He was a front rower or second row forward with the

St. George Dragons The St. George Dragons is an Australian rugby league football club from St George District in Sydney, New South Wales that played in the top level New South Wales competition and Australian Rugby League competitions from the 1921 until th ...

in the latter half of their 11-year consecutive premiership winning run from 1956 to 1966. He played 106 games for the club from 1960 to 1966, and played in seven winning grand finals. Ryan took over the 'Hard Man' mantle in the St George forward pack from Billy Wilson. From 1960 to 1962 when Ryan, Wilson and

Norm Provan Norman Douglas Somerville Provan (18 December 1932 – 13 October 2021) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer and coach. Also nicknamed "Sticks", he was a second-row forward with the St George Dragons during the first ten of t ...

played together the St George forward pack was formidable. Ryan perfected a ball-and-all, one-on-one tackling style. He disdained gang tackling believing it was his individual responsibility to bring his man down hard without help. He would leave the ground each time he tackled, often winding his opponent with his shoulder, then bringing them to ground wrapped up, ball included. During his footballing career Ryan was nicknamed 'Kandos' after the New South Wales cement producing town due to his on-field toughness. He was selected in the squad for the 1963

Kangaroos Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...

tour of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

and played in four tour matches on the tour. Along with

Jim Lisle Ronald James Lisle (19 September 1939 – 1 March 2003) was an Australian rugby union and rugby league player and a dual code rugby international. He represented the Wallabies in 4 tests in 1961 and the Australia national rugby league team in 1 ...

, Ryan made his international league debut in a tour match in England in 1963 but he did not play in any Tests on the tour. Collectively he and Lisle were Australia's 29th and 30th dual code rugby internationals. He later represented Australia in two domestic Tests against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, making his Test debut in 1964 in the 2nd Test in July 1964 at

Lang Park Lang Park, also known as Brisbane Football Stadium, by the sponsored name Suncorp Stadium, and nicknamed: 'The Cauldron', is a multi-purpose stadium in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Milton. The current facility co ...

, Brisbane. Ryan is listed on the ''Australian Players Register'' as Kangaroo No. 386.

Canterbury-Bankstown

Ryan left St George at the end of the 1966 season unable to come to terms in negotiations and wanting to coach. In 1967, as captain-coach, he led

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of t ...

in their 12–11 victory over St George in the preliminary final. He is therefore sometimes credited with bringing an end to the Dragons' premiership run. Certainly he was able to coach against and counter many of their tactics but the game had changed for all in 1967 with the introduction of the four tackle rule and the now maturing Dragons stars like all other teams in the competition, had to deal with a whole new style of game. He led Canterbury to the 1967 Grand Final against South Sydney and was captain-coach at the club through to the middle of the 1969 season when he retired due to injury. He continued on as coach that year and for the 1970 season. He played 52 games for Canterbury, scoring five tries.

After football

After retiring from football, Ryan became a

in 1970, and was an Alderman or Mayor of the

City of Hurstville The Hurstville City Council was a local government area in the St George and southern region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The city seat of Hurstville is located southwest of Sydney and west of Botany Bay. Hurstville was incorporated ...

from 1974 to 1979. He was elected as the Labor Party member for

Hurstville Hurstville is a suburb in Southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is 16 kilometres south of the Sydney CBD and is part of the St George area. Hurstville is the administrative centre of the local government area of the Georges Ri ...

in the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

in 1976, defeating four-term Liberal MP

Tom Mead Thomas Francis Mead (4 May 1918 – 22 January 2004) was an Australian politician, elected as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing the seat of Hurstville for the Liberal Party. He was also a political journalist. Ea ...

, and serving until 1984. He had previously made an unsuccessful bid for the seat in 1973. Ryan was defeated by Liberal candidate

Guy Yeomans Guy Andrew Yeomans (born 5 November 1954), is a former Australian politician. He was the Liberal member for Hurstville in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1984 to 1991. Yeomans was born in Sydney and attended Sydney Technical High ...

at the 1984 election. The result was considered a minor upset as Labor comfortably won the election overall. Ryan's critics within the Labor Party suggested that he had failed to nurse the electorate sufficiently. Ryan contested the 1987 Bankstown by-election as an independent in opposition to the official Labor candidate. He polled 18.6% but was third behind the Labor candidate

Doug Shedden Douglas Arthur Shedden (born April 29, 1961) is a Canadian ice hockey coach and former player. He played in the National Hockey League between 1981 and 1991. After his playing career he became a coach, and worked in the minor leagues for several ...

. He contested the electorate again as an independent at the 1988 election but was again defeated with 18.7% of the vote. Ryan was President of the Rugby League Players Association for many years and a sports commentator with the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-owne ...

from 1970 to 1973 where he usually worked alongside Alan Marks commentating on NSWRFL games. he still practises as a

at Selborne Chambers in Sydney.

Accolades

In 2000 Ryan was awarded the

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, offi ...

. In 2004 he was named at prop-forward for the Berries to Bulldogs 70 Year Team of Champions On 1 April 2007 he was inducted into the Bulldogs Ring of Champions.

Notes

Sources

* Andrews, Malcolm (2006) ''The ABC of Rugby League'' Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney * Writer, Larry (1995) ''Never Before, Never Again'', Pan MacMillan, Sydney * Whiticker, Alan & Hudson, Glen (2006) ''The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players'', Gavin Allen Publishing, Sydney

External links

Kevin Ryan at eraofthebiff.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Kevin 1934 births Living people Australia international rugby union players Australia national rugby league team players Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales Australian male boxers Australian rugby league coaches Australian rugby league players Australian rugby union players Australian sportsperson-politicians Brothers Old Boys players Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs captains Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs coaches Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs players City New South Wales rugby league team players Clive Churchill Medal winners Dual-code rugby internationals Mayors of Hurstville Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly New South Wales rugby league team players Rugby league players from Ipswich, Queensland Rugby league props Rugby union players from Ipswich, Queensland St. George Dragons players Rugby union props