Paddy Ryder is considering leaving Essendon as the supplements saga continues to rile
PATRICK Ryder - and his concerned wife Jess - will ultimately decide where he plays next year after struggling through the drugs saga.
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PATRICK Ryder - and his concerned wife Jess - will ultimately decide where he plays next year.
It’s true several clubs have offered a massive salary increase to the 26-year-old ruckman - as much as $200,000 a season - and if Ryder wants to take cash then his management will push for a trade.
His manager Paul Connors will use a new clause which gives players the right to terminate their contracts and sign with a rival club of choice, if the player can prove a breach of contract, as a mechanism for trade.
If Ryder chose to leave because of the events in 2011 and 2012, then there’s a strong argument that he should be allowed to.
Essendon believes that having Connors push for a trade, it is a breach of contract, for Ryder still has two years to run on a deal worth about $500,000 a season.
Much was written about a possible mass player exodus at the end of 2013 at Essendon, which proved to be mischievous. The majority of the group re-signed.
The Ryder situation is either ridgy didge, in that Ryder wants to leave, or Connors is looking to get more money from Essendon as reward for Ryder playing the best football of his career.
Ryder and his wife have done it tough.
When Ryder was interviewed by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority, Jess was pregnant.
In a sometimes confronting interview, Essendon believes ASADA indicated their was possibility the child could be born abnormal because of the drugs/supplements given to Ryder, in particularly AOD-9604.
Understandably, the mental trauma heaped on the Ryders was unimaginable and Jess has struggled to forgive Essendon for putting her husband and unborn child in such a predicament.
The Ryders weren’t the only Essendon family warned of possible dangers.
Mark McVeigh and his wife were also given the alarming scenario.
Told of the conversation at ASADA interviews, the Bombers made a complaint to the AFL’s chief medical officer, Dr Peter Harcourt.
Scaremongering was the word used by the Bombers who argued AOD-9604 wasn’t banned by ASADA and that, incidentally, trials of AOD-9604 on more than 900 people in Australia eight years ago have shown no affects.
Another word used by Essendon was immoral and it’s understood Essendon club doctor Bruce Reid angrily voiced his displeasure with Harcourt.
Jess and Patty Ryder have struggled throughout the whole investigation, to the point where Ryder is still noticeably effected by the continued media coverage of the supplement saga.
The latest revelations about Ryder possibly leaving Essendon, coming on the eve of Essendon’s first final against North Melbourne, has angered the club.
They believe Connors leaked the story to the media.
Regardless, the problem for Essendon is the story has substance.
They will now try to convince Patrick and Jess their future is at Essendon and it’s increasingly obvious, the person needing most convincing is not Patrick.
But you have to ask, is it mainly about the money? If his concerns were so strong, Ryder could have left 12 months ago.
Originally published as Paddy Ryder is considering leaving Essendon as the supplements saga continues to rile
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