Kevin James Ryan, born 26 August 1934 in
Ipswich, Queensland
Ipswich () is a city in South East Queensland, Australia. Situated on the Bremer River, it is approximately west of the Brisbane central business district. The city is renowned for its architectural, natural and cultural heritage. Ipswich pre ...
is an Australian, former
state parliamentarian and local
mayor,
barrister
A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...
and advocate. In the 1950s and 1960s he was an Australian
dual-code rugby international
A dual-code rugby international is a rugby footballer who has played at the senior international level in both codes of rugby, 13-a-side rugby league and 15-a-side rugby union.
Rugby league started as a breakaway version of rugby in Northern Eng ...
representative and had previously been a
Queensland amateur boxing champion in 1958 and 1959, who trialled for the
1960 Olympics The 1960 Olympics may refer to:
*The 1960 Winter Olympics, which were held in Squaw Valley, United States
*The 1960 Summer Olympics
The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympi ...
.
Background
Raised in the
Somerset Region in
Linville, Queensland
Linville is a rural town and locality in the Somerset Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Linville had a population of 156 people.
History
On 19 August 1841, the Balfour brothers - John, Charles and Robert, took up Colinton run which includ ...
to May Helena Ryan and her husband Matthew a bushman and horseman, he learnt the rudiments of boxing as a young boy.
[Writer p405-409] He attended boarding-school for his high-school years at
St Joseph's College, Nudgee from 1948 to 1952 where he started to play
rugby union.
Rugby union career
After school Ryan played seven seasons with the
Brisbane Brothers
The Past Brothers Rugby League Football Club, or Brisbane Brothers Rugby League Football Club nicknamed the Leprechauns, or more commonly known as Brothers, or as The Brethren, was a rugby league club based in the city of Brisbane, Australia, t ...
club from 1953 to 1959. In the Writer interview he refers to a senior
player-coach role that he performed in his final two years at the club
and he spoke of the loyalty he felt to the club in 1959 when having agreed terms with
St George
Saint George (Greek language, Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin language, Latin: Georgius, Arabic language, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christians, Christian who is venerated as a sa ...
and having achieved his rugby union representative ambitions, he played out the 1959 season with
Brothers and helped them win the 1959 Brisbane Club Premiership.
He was selected in the squad for the
. He made his international representative debut in the 3rd Test match of the tour, that against
England national rugby union team
The England national rugby union team represents England in men's international rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. England have won the championship on 29 occasion ...
at
Twickenham on 1 February 1958.
Australian were beaten 9–6. Following the tour's end he made four further appearances for the
Wallabies
A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and so ...
in 1958, firstly against a visiting
NZ Maori All Blacks side and then in all three Tests against the
All Blacks on the Wallabies 1958 tour of New Zealand.
Rugby league career
St. George
He was a
front rower or
second row forward with the
St. George Dragons in the latter half of their 11-year consecutive premiership winning run from 1956 to 1966. He played 106 games for the club from 1960 to 1966, and played in seven winning grand finals. Ryan took over the 'Hard Man' mantle in the St George forward pack from
Billy Wilson. From 1960 to 1962 when Ryan, Wilson and
Norm Provan played together the St George forward pack was formidable. Ryan perfected a ball-and-all, one-on-one tackling style. He disdained gang tackling believing it was his individual responsibility to bring his man down hard without help. He would leave the ground each time he tackled, often winding his opponent with his shoulder, then bringing them to ground wrapped up, ball included.
During his footballing career Ryan was nicknamed 'Kandos' after the
New South Wales cement producing town due to his on-field toughness.
He was selected in the squad for the 1963
Kangaroos tour of
Great Britain and played in four tour matches on the tour. Along with
Jim Lisle
Ronald James Lisle (19 September 1939 – 1 March 2003) was an Australian rugby union and rugby league player and a dual code rugby international. He represented the Wallabies in 4 tests in 1961 and the Australia national rugby league team in 1 ...
, Ryan made his international league debut in a tour match in England in 1963 but he did not play in any Tests on the tour. Collectively he and Lisle were Australia's 29th and 30th dual code rugby internationals. He later represented Australia in two domestic Tests against
France, making his
Test debut in 1964 in the 2nd Test in July 1964 at
Lang Park
Lang Park, also known as Brisbane Football Stadium, by the sponsored name Suncorp Stadium, and nicknamed: 'The Cauldron', is a multi-purpose stadium in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Milton. The current facility co ...
, Brisbane. Ryan is listed on the ''Australian Players Register'' as Kangaroo No. 386.
Canterbury-Bankstown
Ryan left St George at the end of the 1966 season unable to come to terms in negotiations and wanting to coach.
In 1967, as captain-coach, he led
Canterbury in their 12–11 victory over St George in the preliminary final. He is therefore sometimes credited with bringing an end to the Dragons' premiership run. Certainly he was able to coach against and counter many of their tactics but the game had changed for all in 1967 with the introduction of the four tackle rule and the now maturing Dragons stars like all other teams in the competition, had to deal with a whole new style of game.
He led Canterbury to the
1967 Grand Final against
South Sydney and was captain-coach at the club through to the middle of the 1969 season when he retired due to injury. He continued on as coach that year and for the 1970 season. He played 52 games for Canterbury, scoring five tries.
After football
After retiring from football, Ryan became a
barrister
A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...
in 1970, and was an Alderman or Mayor of the
City of Hurstville
The Hurstville City Council was a local government area in the St George and southern region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The city seat of Hurstville is located southwest of Sydney and west of Botany Bay. Hurstville was incorpor ...
from 1974 to 1979. He was elected as the
Labor Party member for
Hurstville in the
New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 1976, defeating four-term
Liberal MP
Tom Mead, and serving until 1984.
He had previously made an unsuccessful bid for the seat in 1973. Ryan was defeated by Liberal candidate
Guy Yeomans
Guy Andrew Yeomans (born 5 November 1954), is a former Australian politician. He was the Liberal member for Hurstville in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1984 to 1991.
Yeomans was born in Sydney and attended Sydney Technical High S ...
at the
1984 election. The result was considered a minor upset as Labor comfortably won the election overall. Ryan's critics within the Labor Party suggested that he had failed to nurse the electorate sufficiently. Ryan contested the
1987 Bankstown by-election as an independent in opposition to the official Labor candidate. He polled 18.6% but was third behind the Labor candidate
Doug Shedden
Douglas Arthur Shedden (born April 29, 1961) is a Canadian ice hockey coach and former player. He played in the National Hockey League between 1981 and 1991. After his playing career he became a coach, and worked in the minor leagues for several ...
.
He contested the electorate again as an independent at the
1988 election but was again defeated with 18.7% of the vote.
Ryan was President of the Rugby League Players Association for many years and a sports commentator with the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation from 1970 to 1973 where he usually worked alongside Alan Marks commentating on NSWRFL games. he still practises as a
barrister
A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...
at Selborne Chambers in Sydney.
Accolades
In 2000 Ryan was awarded the
Australian Sports Medal. In 2004 he was named at prop-forward for the
Berries to Bulldogs 70 Year Team of Champions On 1 April 2007 he was inducted into the
Bulldogs Ring of Champions.
Notes
Sources
* Andrews, Malcolm (2006) ''The ABC of Rugby League'' Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney
* Writer, Larry (1995) ''Never Before, Never Again'', Pan MacMillan, Sydney
*
Whiticker, Alan & Hudson, Glen (2006) ''The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players'', Gavin Allen Publishing, Sydney
External links
Kevin Ryan at eraofthebiff.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Kevin
1934 births
Living people
Australia international rugby union players
Australia national rugby league team players
Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales
Australian male boxers
Australian rugby league coaches
Australian rugby league players
Australian rugby union players
Australian sportsperson-politicians
Brothers Old Boys players
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs captains
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs coaches
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs players
City New South Wales rugby league team players
Clive Churchill Medal winners
Dual-code rugby internationals
Mayors of Hurstville
Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
New South Wales rugby league team players
Rugby league players from Ipswich, Queensland
Rugby league props
Rugby union players from Ipswich, Queensland
St. George Dragons players
Rugby union props