Ryan Leigh Griffen (born 27 July 1986) is a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who played for the

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Originally named the Footscray F ...

and the

Greater Western Sydney Giants The Greater Western Sydney Giants (officially the Greater Western Sydney Football Club and colloquially known as the GWS Giants or simply GWS or Giants) are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney Olympic Park which repres ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL). Griffen was born in Goolwa, a

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

n port town near the mouth of the

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray; Ngarrindjeri language, Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta language, Yorta Yorta: ''Dhungala'' or ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is List of rivers of Australia, Aust ...

and began his football career with South Adelaide. The Western Bulldogs chose Griffen in the 2004 AFL national draft at number 3 as a priority pick. He managed 17 games in his debut season and came second in the

AFL Rising Star The AFL Rising Star is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged the best young player in the Australian Football League (AFL) for the year. It was first presented in the 1993 season, and was won by Nathan Bu ...

Medal count.

AFL career

Western Bulldogs (2005–2014)

Touted among the best players on offer in the 2004 AFL draft, the

selected Griffen third overall as a priority pick. He had represented South Australia in the 2004 AFL Under 18 Championships and played senior football for

SANFL The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's sports governing body, governing body for the sport. ...

club South Adelaide in his draft year. Griffen made his debut in Round 4 of the

2005 AFL season The 2005 AFL season was the 109th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured sixt ...

against the

West Coast Eagles The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 and first competed in 1987 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known ...

at Subiaco, where the Bulldogs were defeated by the Eagles by 36 points. He played 17 games in his first season as a Bulldog. The ''2006 Record'' describes Griffen as a "defender, both in a man-marking role and as a launching pad for attacking moves". Griffen has already displayed a good deal of the latter at the midway point of the 2006 season and most football critics anticipate that he will have a long career. He suffered a jarring knee injury in Round 11 2007, where he dislocated his kneecap in the win over the

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions are a professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that compete in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. Brisbane are the ...

. The extent of the injury, in itself, was not season threatening although he did suffer complications from a twisted bowel, which hampered his recovery and ruled him out for the rest of the season. In 2008, Griffen played 24 games spending more time in the midfield, averaging career highs in disposals, contested and uncontested possessions, inside 50s and clearances. He covered plenty of territory and ranked number one at the Bulldogs in inside 50s and rebound 50s combined. He also ranked third in the AFL for running bounces and equal fourth at the Bulldogs for score assists during the H&A rounds. The speedy midfielder broke open a number of games in 2008, earning maximum Brownlow votes in consecutive matches against St Kilda and Essendon in rounds three and four. Finished second in the AFL for bounces and top 10 in the Bulldogs’ best and fairest. In 2009, Griffen played well at times, winning three

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as Charlie), is awarded to the best and fairest player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by the f ...

votes on multiple occasions, but many believe he hadn't reached his full potential. Griffen was one of the players who spoke out regarding

Jason Akermanis Jason Dean Akermanis (born 24 February 1977) is a former professional Australian rules football player who played in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is a Brownlow Medallist and triple premiership player who played for the Brisbane Bears ...

' controversial sacking midway through 2010 season.Making a stand
''The Age''. 9 April 2011 In the Round 14 match against Hawthorn, Griffen failed to make an effort to take a mark against Xavier Ellis 30 metres out late in the final quarter as the Hawks came from behind to win by 3 points, and he was widely criticised. Griffen made up for his mistake the following week when he was named among the Bulldogs' best in a 68-point thrashing of Carlton. On the eve of the finals, Griffen was shifted from his customary position on the wing into the midfield to replace injured teammate Adam Cooney. Although the Bulldogs were again bundled out in the Preliminary Final, Griffen was one of the stand-outs, averaging 28 possessions across the three games. At the end of the season he was proclaimed the winner of the 2010 Charlie Sutton Medal.

2011

In 2011 Ryan Griffen has maintained his excellent form from 2010 and is a frontrunner to win another Charlie Sutton Medal along with Matthew Boyd

2012

After another stellar season in 2012, Ryan Griffen amassed a club-record 47 possessions – 22 of which were contested in the round 21 match against the Sydney Swans. The record eclipsed the previous best of 46 set by Simon Atkins. Griffen picked up 16 touches in the first quarter. His previous best was 37 possessions.

2013: All-Australian season

Griffen produced possibly his best season in 2013, recording 30 or more possessions 11 times and taking out his second Charles Sutton Medal ahead of a fast-finishing

Tom Liberatore Thomas Francis Liberatore (born 16 May 1992) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the in the Australian Football League (AFL). At and , he plays as a contested ball-winning midfielder who applies high amounts of pressure. He is the ...

. Griffen also finished 6th in the AFLPA MVP Award with 177 votes. While averaging 29 disposals per game he also achieved

All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perfo ...

honours. Ryan Griffen was also ranked #8 best player in the AFL in Mike Sheahan's Top 50 Players and the Official AFL Player Ratings. On 3 December 2013 Griffen was awarded the captaincy of the Bulldogs, taking over from skipper of 3 years Matthew Boyd. Griffen played 19 games in his final season at the Bulldogs in 2014 before he left the club to join

Greater Western Sydney Greater Western Sydney (GWS) is a large region of the metropolitan area of Greater Sydney, New South Wales (NSW), Australia that generally embraces the north-west, south-west, central-west, far western and the Blue Mountains sub-regions with ...

, thus handing over the captaincy to veteran Robert Murphy.

Greater Western Sydney (2015–2018)

At the end of the 2014 season, Griffen asked to join the GWS Giants. On 15 October a trade was successfully reached, reuniting Griffen with coach Leon Cameron, and players Dylan Addison and Callan Ward. In round 3, 2017 Griffen suffered a syndesmosis of the left ankle, which left him unable to play for the rest of the home and away season. He made his return in a scratch match between the Giants' reserves and 's reserves the day after their qualifying final. Griffen announced his retirement from AFL football following the Giants' semi-final loss to Collingwood on 15 September 2018.

Post AFL

In November 2018, it was announced that Griffen would be returning to his home club Goolwa-Port Elliot Magpies who compete in the Great Southern Football League.

Statistics

: , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, , , 16 , , 17 , , 7 , , 7 , , 126 , , 97 , , 223 , , 55 , , 39 , , 0.4 , , 0.4 , , 7.4 , , 5.7 , , 13.1 , , 3.2 , , 2.3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, , , 16 , , 24 , , 7 , , 9 , , 209 , , 202 , , 411 , , 87 , , 69 , , 0.3 , , 0.4 , , 8.7 , , 8.4 , , 17.1 , , 3.6 , , 2.9 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, , , 16 , , 10 , , 2 , , 4 , , 78 , , 65 , , 143 , , 31 , , 29 , , 0.2 , , 0.4 , , 7.8 , , 6.5 , , 14.3 , , 3.1 , , 2.9 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, , , 16 , , 24 , , 18 , , 9 , , 295 , , 183 , , 478 , , 103 , , 63 , , 0.8 , , 0.4 , , 12.3 , , 7.6 , , 19.9 , , 4.3 , , 2.6 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, , , 16 , , 22 , , 17 , , 9 , , 270 , , 213 , , 483 , , 70 , , 80 , , 0.8 , , 0.4 , , 12.3 , , 9.7 , , 22.0 , , 3.2 , , 3.6 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, , , 16 , , 24 , , 23 , , 12 , , 358 , , 216 , , 574 , , 80 , , 78 , , 1.0 , , 0.5 , , 14.9 , , 9.0 , , 23.9 , , 3.3 , , 3.2 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, , , 16 , , 22 , , 24 , , 17 , , 341 , , 187 , , 528 , , 75 , , 102 , , 1.1 , , 0.8 , , 15.5 , , 8.5 , , 24.0 , , 3.4 , , 4.6 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, , , 16 , , 20 , , 8 , , 11 , , 287 , , 252 , , 539 , , 66 , , 86 , , 0.4 , , 0.6 , , 14.4 , , 12.6 , , 27.0 , , 3.3 , , 4.3 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, , , 16 , , 20 , , 14 , , 10 , , 304 , , 275 , , 579 , , 63 , , 98 , , 0.7 , , 0.5 , , 15.2 , , 13.8 , , 29.0 , , 3.2 , , 4.9 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, , , 16 , , 19 , , 10 , , 10 , , 219 , , 217 , , 436 , , 35 , , 99 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 11.5 , , 11.4 , , 23.0 , , 1.8 , , 5.2 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, , , 32 , , 21 , , 7 , , 3 , , 198 , , 235 , , 433 , , 85 , , 80 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 9.4 , , 11.2 , , 20.6 , , 4.0 , , 3.8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, , , 32 , , 15 , , 9 , , 13 , , 137 , , 179 , , 316 , , 41 , , 79 , , 0.6 , , 0.9 , , 9.1 , , 11.9 , , 21.1 , , 2.7 , , 5.3 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, , , 32 , , 3 , , 0 , , 2 , , 20 , , 26 , , 46 , , 5 , , 9 , , 0.0 , , 0.7 , , 6.7 , , 8.7 , , 15.3 , , 1.7 , , 3.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, , , 32 , , 16 , , 16 , , 11 , , 136 , , 104 , , 240 , , 47 , , 35 , , 1.0 , , 0.7 , , 8.5 , , 6.5 , , 15.0 , , 2.9 , , 2.2 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 257 ! 162 ! 127 ! 2978 ! 2451 ! 5429 ! 843 ! 946 ! 0.6 ! 0.5 ! 11.6 ! 9.5 ! 21.1 ! 3.3 ! 3.7

References

* ''AFL Record 2006 Season Preview'', ed. Michael Lovett, AFL Publishing.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Griffen, Ryan Greater Western Sydney Giants players Western Bulldogs players 1986 births Living people Australian rules footballers from South Australia South Adelaide Football Club players Charles Sutton Medal winners All-Australians (AFL) People from Goolwa, South Australia