Ryan O'Connor (born 27 June 1974) 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 ...

player. He is best known for playing for the

Essendon Bombers The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers or colloquially the Dons, is a professional Australian rules football club that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCrac ...

and

Sydney Swans The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a Austral ...

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 ...

. He then continued his career in the

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. ...

with the

Port Adelaide Magpies Port Adelaide Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia, Alberton, South Australia. The club's senior men's team plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), where it is nicknamed the ...

where he won the

Magarey Medal The Magarey Medal is an Australian rules football honour awarded annually since 1898 to the fairest and most brilliant player in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), as judged by field umpires. The award was created by Willi ...

. He finished his career with VFL club

Coburg Coburg ( , ) is a Town#Germany, town located on the Itz (river), Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Ernestine duchies, Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only ...

in 2005 after winning the Best & Fairest in 2004. O'Connor, from

Ulverstone, Tasmania Ulverstone is a town on the northern coast of Tasmania, Australia on the mouth of the River Leven, on Bass Strait. It is on the Bass Highway, west of Devonport and east of Penguin. As of June 2021 Ulverstone had an urban population of 11, ...

began his career at the Essendon reserves after being traded by Geelong in the 1991 AFL Draft for ruckman

John Barnes John Charles Bryan Barnes (born 7 November 1963) is a former professional football player and manager. Often considered one of the greatest England players of all time and one of Liverpool's greatest ever players, Barnes currently works as an ...

. Even as a young man, O'Connor was known for his massive size (191 cm, 110 kg), considered large even for an AFL player. Despite his bulk and struggle with weight problems, the big man was surprisingly agile and could take strong contested marks. O'Connor's best year was 1995. He became a centre half forward and strung together a number of impressive games, kicking bags of goals. 1995 put Ryan O'Connor on the map. He stepped up to become an important forward who took the rucking duties in the front half. In 1997 O'Connor was involved in a car accident which had an effect on his form. He was delisted by the Bombers. The Sydney Swans picked up O'Connor and used him at centre half forward and centre half back. After a few reasonable seasons, the power forward was delisted at the end of 2000. The

picked up O'Connor, where he starred, winning the

in 2001, alongside former St Kilda player Tony Brown.Archard, Ezard tie for Magarey glory
/ref> O'Connor then moved back to Melbourne in 2004, and joined

, winning the Best & Fairest that year. Retiring midway through 2005, he would be thrust into the role of General Manager, a role he held until 2009. O'Connor is currently the Talent Manager with

TAC Cup The Talent League (also known as the Coates Talent League under naming rights and previously as the NAB League and TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition based in Melbourne and run by the Australian Foot ...

side

Sandringham Dragons Sandringham Dragons is an Australian rules football club playing in the Talent League, the top statewide under-18 competition in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. They are based at the Moorabbin Oval in Moorabbin, Victoria, representin ...

where he has been since 2010.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnor, Ryan Australian rules footballers from Tasmania Essendon Football Club players Sydney Swans players Port Adelaide Magpies players Coburg Football Club players Magarey Medal winners Allies State of Origin players Living people 1974 births