Jason Ryles (born 17 January 1979 in

Wollongong, New South Wales Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wat ...

) 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 11 ...

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

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 ...

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 Ov ...

and Australia national representative forward, he played 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 St. George Illawarra Dragons before going to the Super League and playing for French club

Catalans Dragons The Catalans Dragons (French: ''Dragons Catalans'', Catalan: ''Dracs Catalans'') are a professional rugby league club from Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales department, France. The team competes in the Super League and are the only team from outs ...

. Ryles returned to Australia and played for the

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional 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 fifteen Ne ...

before finishing his career at the

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm are a rugby league club based in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia that participates in the National Rugby League. The first fully professional rugby league team based in the state, the Storm entered the competition in 1998. ...

Playing career

In 2000, Ryles made his

debut, playing for the St. George Illawarra Dragons. At the end of 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 ...

, he went on the 2001 Kangaroo tour. In June, 2008, St. George Illawarra announced Ryles had signed with French Super League club,

for two years commencing in 2009. Ryles returned to the NRL in 2010 with the

and was part of the team that made the Grand Final that season. However, after a disappointing 2011 season for the

, his contract was terminated one year before its expiry. He subsequently signed with the

for the 2012 season. Melbourne, who were the minor premiers in 2011, cited Ryles' experience as a major factor in his signing. He played in the Melbourne Storm's

2013 World Club Challenge The 2013 World Club Challenge (PROBIZ World Club Challenge for sponsorship purposes) was the fourteenth consecutive annual World Club Challenge and was contested by Super League XVII champions, Leeds Rhinos and 2012 NRL Premiers, the Melbourne ...

win over

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

. Ryles had played fifteen Tests for Australia and represented the New South Wales Blues on eight occasions.

Playing Highlights

*''Junior Clubs:'' Berkeley & Wests Illawarra *''First Grade Debut:'' Round 15, St. George Illawarra v

Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...

, Parramatta Stadium, 14 May 2000 *''2005 Minor Premiership winner with St. George Illawarra:''

Coaching career

Ryles began his coaching career in 2012 with NSW State of Origin under 20s side as their assistant coach, which also carried over to 2013. Both years were successful in defeating Queensland's under 20s team. After his retirement as a player in the

Ryles accepted a head coaching role for Western Suburbs Red Devils for the 2014/2015 seasons. At the end of 2015 Ryles was approached by

to join their staffing team as assistant coach where he currently held this position until autumn 2020. While at

from 2016–present, Ryles has also periodically assisted in coaching England's national rugby union team. In 2016 and 2017 Ryles was appointed assistant coach for Junior Kangaroos. In autumn 2020, Ryles joined England as skills coach on a full-time basis. However he missed the

2021 Six Nations Championship The 2021 Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the 22nd Six Nations Championship, the annual rugby union competition contested by the national teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, ...

due to travel restrictions relating to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. He left the role in May 2021. In 2022 he joined the

as an assistant coach.

References

1979 births Living people Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league coaches Australian rugby league players Catalans Dragons players Country New South Wales Origin rugby league team players Melbourne Storm players New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Wollongong Rugby league props Rugby league second-rows St. George Illawarra Dragons players Sydney Roosters coaches Sydney Roosters players {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1970s-stub