Barwon Heads export Brandon Ryan on being traded from Hawthorn to Brisbane

Brandon Ryan joined his second club in the space of six months after being traded to Brisbane. The Barwon Heads junior opens up on how the trade unfolded and his meteoric rise.

Brandon Ryan is now a LIon. Picture: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

Brandon Ryan will be leaving his trackies and jumpers at home, but his mates from Barwon Heads will be heading up in their droves to join him in Brisbane.

Ryan’s whirlwind 2023 took another dramatic turn when he was approached by Brisbane late in the AFL Trade period.

In a flash he became the first mid-season draftee to be traded to another club, moving from Hawthorn to the Lions just 140 days after becoming a Hawk.

It capped a meteoric rise for the Barwon Heads junior, beginning his year for Maribyrnong Park in the Essendon District Football League before bursting onto the mid-season draft radar after starring at VFL level for the Northern Bullants.

Ryan has no doubt his beloved Seagulls will be flying up to Brisbane to watch his first game – but he may have to be careful not to be too generous with hosting arrangements.

“They are pumped, I think I have to make sure if I end up moving out that I don’t get too many spare rooms because I think everyone will just be crashing the first chance they get,” Ryan said with a laugh.

“They are super pumped, they will be up there the first game I play no doubt and so will the family. Everyone is really excited for me

“I’m certainly going to leave the trackies and jumpers at home. I’ll have to stock up on the shorts because I don’t have too much summer stuff here in Melbourne.

“It’s been a whirlwind of a 48 hour period but super exciting. All came pretty unexpected I guess but it’s a great opportunity.”

HOW IT UNFOLDED

Ryan is still pinching himself. He thought he’d be the last person to get approached by a rival club.

The 200cm key forward showed some exciting glimpses in half a season at Hawthorn, including his eye-catching three goal haul against Collingwood in round 21, but he hadn’t even played state league football at the beginning of the year.

Clearly Brisbane, who had tracked Ryan ahead of the mid-season intake but didn’t have a pick, saw the promising upside of the 200cm tall with unique athleticism, and asked the question with Jack Gunston eager for a fairytale return to the Hawks.

Brandon Ryan celebrates one of his three goals against Collingwood. Picture: Getty Images

After a year full of surprises, Ryan was knocked off his feet again when the prospect of two-year contract and a trade to Brisbane was on the table.

“When it came to the break it was sort of a good opportunity for me to just soak it all in and step back and go ‘OK wow, what a start to my journey’,” Ryan said.

“And then the Brisbane Lions approached me and then it all just kicks up again and I’m like ‘oh my god, it’s just not ending!’ But it’s awesome, I’m loving the ride and it’s a crazy journey.

“I was completely shocked, I thought I was the last person to be, not necessarily asked, but approached by another club for the possibility of being traded given I’ve only be in the system and at Hawthorn for essentially four of five months.”

Ryan travelled up to Brisbane’s Springfield base to meet Lions coach Chris Fagan on Saturday and was then made to wait until the final hour of trade deadline day.

But despite a few nerves, the situation was a win-win for Ryan: either an exciting opportunity at Brisbane, or he remained at Hawthorn where he had only just scratched the surface.

He said Gunston’s looming arrival and the Hawks’ pursuit of Mabior Chol wasn’t a factor in his decision to join the Lions.

“I was trying not to get too caught up in it all, the manager was calling and obviously the clubs are talking to each other, pass it to the manager, pass it to me, so it’s a good learning experience,” he said.

“I saw it as a win-win for me, I’m in an AFL system and that’s what I wanted, that was my dream. Obviously I was very enticed by the offer from Brisbane so I knew if I could get there it would be awesome and I would be excited. But if it didn’t go through, it didn’t go through. I wasn’t going to get too beat up about it or anything like that.

“To be honest I back myself to succeed wherever I was, I think you’ve got to have that mentality going into an AFL side anywhere, otherwise you won’t succeed.

“I wasn’t too concerned about the people that they were bringing in but I suppose the opportunity to move up to Brisbane at my age, 25, I think I’m coming into my peak.”

Brandon Ryan in action for Northern Bullants this year. Picture: Hamish Blair

GFL TO TRADE TARGET

It seems like an eternity ago that Ryan was playing in the GFL for Geelong West.

A scrawny teenager, Ryan wasn’t part of the elite talent pathway at the Geelong Falcons and instead played junior football for Barwon Heads.

Ryan made his GFNL debut in 2016 after kicking 38 goals in 16 Colts matches, and was then picked up by Geelong West, where he played 24 games across two seasons from 2017-2018.

His form for Geelong West saw him added to North Melbourne’s VFL list in 2018 but injury and Covid got in the way.

The 25-year-old said while he may not have realised it at the time, all the help and advice he had been given at local level has helped him to get to where he is today.

“Being 25 there are so many people along the journey that you meet that help you and so many little steps that you don’t think mean much at the time but looking back at it how much it does help get you where you are,” Ryan said

“I had a lot of setbacks when I was younger and I probably wasn’t developed. I still need to put on some muscle and size now so you can imagine what I was like when I was 18 so my body just probably wasn’t quite ready to take that step into just VFL.

“So it has taken a few years but now that I’ve finally been able to play four seasons of football that’s led me to this point so I’m very thankful for them.”

Originally published as Barwon Heads export Brandon Ryan on being traded from Hawthorn to Brisbane