Andrew Ryan (born 2 December 1978,

Dubbo Dubbo () is a city in the Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021. The city is located at the intersection of the Newell, Mitchell, and Gol ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

) is an Australian former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. An

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

international]and New South Wales rugby league team, New South Wales

State of Origin A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Oval ...

representative forward, he played his club football in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

for the

Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League. The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and their ...

and

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilita ...

, winning the 2004 NRL premiership with the club and becoming their captain.

Playing career

A Dubbo High School, St. Johns Dubbo and

Emu Plains JRLFC The Emu Plains JRLFC, colloquially known as just ''Emu'', is a Rugby league club in the Penrith, New South Wales District. The club fields both Junior and Senior teams with players starting as early as 4 years old. The club colours are red, white ...

junior, Ryan made his debut for the

against the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite com ...

at Parramatta Stadium in round 2 of the

2000 NRL season The 2000 NRL season was the 93rd season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the third to be run by the National Rugby League. Fourteen teams competed from February till August for the NRL Premiership, culminating in the 2000 ...

. Ryan played in the club's preliminary final defeat against the

in the same year. He was named the 2000 Parramatta Eels season's rookie of the year. In the

2001 NRL season The 2001 NRL season was the 94th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the fourth run by the National Rugby League. Also called the 2001 Telstra Premiership (due to sponsorship from Telstra Corporation) it was contested b ...

, Ryan made 24 appearances as Parramatta finished as runaway Minor Premiers after one of the most dominant seasons in the modern era where the club set numerous point scoring records. Ryan played from the interchange bench for Parramatta in their shock 2001 NRL grand final loss to the

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, th ...

. After three seasons with the

, the club was unable to retain Ryan due to the salary cap and the man known as 'Bobcat' accepted a deal to join arch-rivals the Canterbury-Bankstown for the

2003 NRL season The 2003 NRL premiership was the 96th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the sixth run by the National Rugby League. Fifteen teams competed, with the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles returning in place of their failed joint ...

. His second season with Canterbury-Bankstown was personally and professionally his most successful - with a return to

, selection at international level, and a premiership win in the

2004 NRL grand final The 2004 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2004 NRL season. It was contested by the Sydney Roosters, who had finished the regular season in 1st place, and the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, who had finished ...

for Canterbury over cross-town rivals, the

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby league, Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won ...

. Ryan pulled off a try saving tackle on the full-time siren during the match on Sydney Roosters player Michael Crocker which won Canterbury the game. Ryan also captained the Canterbury side in this match with regular

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Steve Price ruled out after sustaining an injury in the preliminary final against the 2003 premiers, the

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith that competes in the NRL. The team is based west of the centre of Sydney, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Penrith ...

. Ryan was selected in the Australian team to go and compete in the end of season

2004 Rugby League Tri-Nations The second Rugby League Tri-Nations tournament (known as the Gillette Tri-Nations due to sponsorship) was contested between 16 October and 27 November of 2004. The format of the competition differed from the previous event in that the teams play ...

tournament. In the final against

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 is ...

he played at second-row forward in the Kangaroos' 44-4 victory. In 2005, Ryan became captain of the club following Price's move to the

New Zealand Warriors The New Zealand Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as ...

. Ryan was selected to play for the Australian national team at lock forward the 2007 ANZAC Test match victory against New Zealand. In 2009, he was named Dally M Captain of the Year, after leading the club to within one game of a Grand Final appearance, after they had finished the year prior with the wooden spoon. He was the last 2004 premiership-winning player still at the club when he retired at the conclusion of the

2011 NRL season The 2011 NRL season was the 104th season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the fourteenth and last run by the National Rugby League's partnership committee of the Australian Rugby League and News Ltd. The NRL ...

Post playing career

Ryan is now an ambassador and player welfare officer for the National Rugby League. Ryan is also an Australian Apprenticeships Ambassador for the Australian Government.

Representative selection

Ryan was selected to represent

as variously a second-rower or lock in five series to the end of 2007: * Games II and III of the

2001 State of Origin series The 2001 State of Origin series was the 20th year that the State of Origin series, annual three-game series between the Queensland rugby league team, Queensland and New South Wales rugby league team, New South Wales representative rugby league foo ...

* Games I and II of the

2004 State of Origin series The 2004 State of Origin series was the 23rd time that the annual three-game series between the Queensland and New South Wales representative rugby league football teams was contested entirely under 'state of origin' selection rules. A pre-serie ...

* Games I, II and III of the

2005 State of Origin series The 2005 State of Origin series saw the 24th time that the annual three-game series between the Queensland and New South Wales representative rugby league football teams was contested entirely under 'state of origin' selection rules. The three ma ...

* Games I and II of the

2006 State of Origin series The 2006 State of Origin series was the 25th year that the annual best-of-three series of interstate rugby league football matches between the Queensland and New South Wales representative teams was contested entirely under 'state of origin' sele ...

* Games I, II and III of the

2007 State of Origin series The 2007 State of Origin series was the 26th year that the annual best-of-three series of interstate rugby league football matches between the Queensland and New South Wales representative teams was contested entirely under 'state of origin' sel ...

* He was selected at Lock for the 2008 City V Country match at WIN stadium. Ryan was also a mainstay of the

Australian Kangaroos The Australian National Rugby League Team, the Kangaroos, have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competition since the establishment of the 'Northern Union game' in Australia in 1908. Administered by the Australian ...

, appearing in three

Tri-Nations series The Rugby Championship is an international rugby union competition contested annually by Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. These are the four highest ranked national teams in the Southern Hemisphere; the Six Nations is a ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

and

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

as well as a Test 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 ...

in 2005. He was selected for Country in the

City vs Country A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

match on 8 May 2009.

References

External links

*
Andrew Ryan Bulldog's Profile

NRL Player Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Andrew 1978 births Living people Australia national rugby league team players Australian people of Irish descent Australian rugby league players Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs players Country New South Wales Origin rugby league team players New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players Parramatta Eels players Rugby league players from Dubbo Rugby league props Rugby league second-rows