Western Bulldogs
The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football team that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition.
Founded in 1877 as the Footscray Football Club, and based in West Footscray in the o ...
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
n port town near the mouth of the
Murray River
The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest ...
and began his football career with
South Adelaide
The South Adelaide Football Club is an Australian rules football club that competes in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Known as the ''Panthers'', their home ground is Flinders University Stadium2004 AFL national draft at number 3 as a priority pick. He managed 17 games in his debut season and came second in the
AFL Rising Star
The AFL Rising Star is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged the best young player in the Australian Football League (AFL) for the year. It was first presented in the 1993 season, and was won by Nathan Buc ...
Medal count.
AFL career
Western Bulldogs (2005–2014)
Touted among the best players on offer in the 2004 AFL draft, the
Western Bulldogs
The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football team that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition.
Founded in 1877 as the Footscray Football Club, and based in West Footscray in the o ...
selected Griffen third overall as a priority pick. He had represented South Australia in the 2004 AFL Under 18 Championships and played senior football for
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 governing body for the sport.
Originally formed as the ...
club
South Adelaide
The South Adelaide Football Club is an Australian rules football club that competes in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Known as the ''Panthers'', their home ground is Flinders University Stadium2005 AFL season
The 2005 AFL season was the 109th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured sixt ...
against the
West Coast Eagles
The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known as the Victorian Football L ...
at Subiaco, where the Bulldogs were defeated by the Eagles by 36 points. He played 17 games in his first season as a Bulldog.
The ''2006 Record'' describes Griffen as a "defender, both in a man-marking role and as a launching pad for attacking moves". Griffen has already displayed a good deal of the latter at the midway point of the 2006 season and most football critics anticipate that he will have a long career.
He suffered a jarring knee injury in Round 11 2007, where he dislocated his kneecap in the win over the
Brisbane Lions
The Brisbane Lions is a professional Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL).
The club was formed in late 1996 via a merger of the Melbourne-based 1883 foundation VFL c ...
. The extent of the injury, in itself, was not season threatening although he did suffer complications from a twisted bowel, which hampered his recovery and ruled him out for the rest of the season.
In 2008, Griffen played 24 games spending more time in the midfield, averaging career highs in disposals, contested and uncontested possessions, inside 50s and clearances. He covered plenty of territory and ranked number one at the Bulldogs in inside 50s and rebound 50s combined. He also ranked third in the AFL for running bounces and equal fourth at the Bulldogs for score assists during the H&A rounds. The speedy midfielder broke open a number of games in 2008, earning maximum Brownlow votes in consecutive matches against St Kilda and Essendon in rounds three and four. Finished second in the AFL for bounces and top 10 in the Bulldogs’ best and fairest.
In 2009, Griffen played well at times, winning three
Brownlow Medal
The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as "Charlie"), is awarded to the "best and fairest" player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by t ...
votes on multiple occasions, but many believe he hadn't reached his full potential.
Griffen was one of the players who spoke out regarding
Jason Akermanis
Jason Dean Akermanis (born 24 February 1977) is a former professional Australian rules football player who played in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is a Brownlow Medallist and triple premiership player who played for the Brisbane Bears ...
' controversial sacking midway through 2010 season.Making a stand ''The Age''. 9 April 2011 In the Round 14 match against
Hawthorn
Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to:
Plants
* '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae
* ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...
, Griffen failed to make an effort to take a mark against
Xavier Ellis
Xavier John Ellis (born 28 February 1988) is a media personality and former professional Australian rules football player who played with the Hawthorn Football Club and West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League. Over 125 senior matc ...
30 metres out late in the final quarter as the Hawks came from behind to win by 3 points, and he was widely criticized. Griffen made up for his mistake the following week when he was named among the Bulldogs' best in a 68-point thrashing of Carlton. On the eve of the finals, Griffen was shifted from his customary position on the wing into the midfield to replace injured teammate Adam Cooney. Although the Bulldogs were again bundled out in the Preliminary Final, Griffen was one of the stand-outs, averaging 28 possessions across the three games. At the end of the season he was proclaimed the winner of the 2010 Charlie Sutton Medal.
2011
In 2011 Ryan Griffen has maintained his excellent form from 2010 and is a frontrunner to win another Charlie Sutton Medal along with Matthew Boyd
2012
After another stellar season in 2012, Ryan Griffen amassed a club-record 47 possessions – 22 of which were contested in the round 21 match against the Sydney Swans. The record eclipsed the previous best of 46 set by Simon Atkins. Griffen picked up 16 touches in the first quarter. His previous best was 37 possessions.
2013: All-Australian season
Griffen produced possibly his best season in 2013, recording 30 or more possessions 11 times and taking out his second Charles Sutton Medal ahead of a fast-finishing Tom Liberatore. Griffen also finished 6th in the AFLPA MVP Award with 177 votes. While averaging 29 disposals per game he also achieved
All-Australian
The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-performed players during the season, led b ...
honours. Ryan Griffen was also ranked #8 best player in the AFL in Mike Sheahan's Top 50 Players and the Official AFL Player Ratings. On 3 December 2013 Griffen was awarded the captaincy of the Bulldogs, taking over from skipper of 3 years Matthew Boyd.
Griffen played 19 games in his final season at the Bulldogs in 2014 before he left the club to join Greater Western Sydney, thus handing over the captaincy to veteran
Robert Murphy Robert, Rob, Bob or Bobby Murphy may refer to:
Sports Ice hockey
*Robert Ronald Murphy or Ron Murphy (1933–2014), Canadian ice hockey player
* Bob Murphy (ice hockey) (born 1951), Canadian retired professional ice hockey player
* Rob Murphy (ice ...
.
Greater Western Sydney (2015–2018)
At the end of the 2014 season, Griffen asked to join the GWS Giants. On 15 October a trade was successfully reached, reuniting Griffen with coach Leon Cameron, and players Dylan Addison and Callan Ward.
In round 3, 2017 Griffen suffered a syndesmosis of the left ankle, which left him unable to play for the rest of the home and away season. He made his return in a scratch match between the Giants' reserves and 's reserves the day after their qualifying final.
Griffen announced his retirement from AFL football following the Giants' semi-final loss to Collingwood on 15 September 2018.
Post AFL
In November 2018, it was announced that Griffen would be returning to his home club Goolwa-Port Elliot Magpies who compete in the Great Southern Football League.
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...