Samson Ryan (born 9 December 2000) is a professional

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 plays for the

Richmond Football Club The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers or colloquially the Tiges, is a professional Australian rules football team competing in the Australian Football League (AFL). Founded in 1885 in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond, Victoria, Ric ...

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).

Early life, junior football and state-league football

Ryan grew up in Merimbula, a coastal town on

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

' far south coast. He played football with the Pambula Panthers and the Merimbula in the

Sapphire Coast Australian Football League The Sapphire Coast Australian Football League is an Australian rules football competition in the Sapphire Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The league was formed in 1984. The Far South Coast lies in the feeder area for the GWS club and ...

as well as cricket in his pre-teen years, before focusing on cricket in his early teen years. Around that time, he was offered a cricket scholarship to

Toowoomba Grammar School Toowoomba Grammar School is an independent, non-denominational, day and boarding grammar school for boys, in East Toowoomba, Toowoomba, Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. Toowoomba Grammar was established in 1875, the third school to be ...

, prompting his family to move to

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

to accept the scholarship. Ryan returned to football while in

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( ), nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar', is a city on the border of South East Queensland and Darling Downs regions of Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Queensland's capital, Brisbane. The urban population of Toowoom ...

and became an impressive prospect, joining the

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

program and later representing Queensland at the Under 17 National Championships in 2018. Ryan played representative football with the Lions Academy side in the 2019

NAB League Boys 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 ...

season, and was named by ''Aussie Rules Draft Central'' as the best performed ruck of any of the five competing Academies, after averaging 26 hitouts a game across five matches. That same year, he represented Queensland as part of

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

side at the

2019 AFL Under 18 Championships The 2019 NAB AFL Under-18 Championships was the 24th edition of the AFL Under 18 Championships, AFL Under-18 Championships. The tournament was played between five teams—The Allies (Australian rules football), Allies, South Australian state ...

. In the later part of the season, Ryan played

QAFL The Queensland Australian Football League (QAFL or "Q-A-F-L") is an Australian rules football competition organised by the AFL Queensland, contested by clubs from South East Queensland. Founded in 1903 it was previously known as the Queensl ...

football with Sherwood Districts and later made his NEAFL debut with Redland. Though part of the Lions' academy, the club was not given priority access to match any other club's bid on Ryan at the 2019 AFL national draft owing to his relatively late move to Queensland. In any case he was eventually passed over by all 18 clubs. Ryan intended to return to state-league football in 2020, initially signing with the

Canberra Football Club The Eastlake Demons (formerly known as the Canberra Demons) is a semi-professional Australian rules football club based in the inner-south of Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory. The senior team competed in the North East Australian Foo ...

but ultimately being unable to play at the level after the NEAFL season was cancelled as a result of state border closures associated with the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He returned instead to Sherwood in the QAFL, where he played 10 matches as the club's lead ruck.

Junior statistics

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2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, 60 , , 5 , , 0 , , — , , 29 , , 23 , , 52 , , 10 , , 7 , , 129 , , 0.0 , , — , , 5.8 , , 4.6 , , 10.4 , , 2.0 , , 1.4 , , 25.8 , - , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 5 ! 0 ! — ! 29 ! 23 ! 52 ! 10 ! 7 ! 129 ! 0.0 ! — ! 5.8 ! 4.6 ! 10.4 ! 2.0 ! 1.4 ! 25.8 Under 18 National Championships , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, 30 , , 1 , , 0 , , — , , 1 , , 1 , , 2 , , 0 , , 0 , , 21 , , 0.0 , , — , , 1.0 , , 1.0 , , 2.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 21.0 , - , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 1 ! 0 ! — ! 1 ! 1 ! 2 ! 0 ! 0 ! 21 ! 0.0 ! — ! 1.0 ! 1.0 ! 2.0 ! 0.0 ! 0.0 ! 21.0

AFL career

2021 season

Ryan was drafted by with the club's first pick and the 40th selection overall in the 2020 AFL national draft. He first represented Richmond as part of the club's reserves side, featuring in VFL pre-season matches in March and April before the season officially began in April. Ryan continued to play in VFL matches during the season proper, kicking three goals in the first official match of the season and playing mostly as a forward during this period. After a four-goal performance in late-May and following an injury to lead AFL ruck Toby Nankervis, Ryan was considered for senior selection but eventually passed over for the club's round 12 match against . Instead he was given the role as lead ruck at reserves level and after a COVID-19 outbreak induced three-week bye, impressing in the club's next match with 30 hit outs and one goal against . Following that match, Ryan was selected to make an AFL debut in round 15's match against at the

MCG The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as the 'G, is a sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the el ...

. After a poor performance that including just one hitout and no disposals, Ryan was immediately dropped back to reserves level the following week.

2022 season

2023 season

Player profile

Ryan plays as a ruck and tall forward. He is notable for his contested marking ability.

AFL statistics

''Updated to the end of round 21, 2023''. , - , scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

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2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

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2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 32 , , 14 , , 12 , , 5 , , 66 , , 33 , , 99 , , 40 , , 11 , , 171 , , 0.9 , , 0.4 , , 4.7 , , 2.4 , , 7.1 , , 2.9 , , 0.8 , , 12.2 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 15 ! 12 ! 5 ! 66 ! 33 ! 99 ! 40 ! 11 ! 172 ! 0.8 ! 0.3 ! 4.4 ! 2.2 ! 6.6 ! 2.7 ! 0.7 ! 11.5

References

External links

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Samson Ryan's profile
at AFL Draft Central {{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Samson Living people 2000 births Richmond Football Club players Redland Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Queensland People educated at Toowoomba Grammar School Australian rules footballers from New South Wales 21st-century Australian sportsmen Sportspeople from Toowoomba