St Kilda ruckman Paddy Ryder on how the Saints have healed his wounds
When Port Adelaide decided to trade Paddy Ryder, he had a choice to make. He explains why he chose the Saints, fighting back against racism and what Buddy said the day he kicked nine goals on him.
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I’ll never forget the day Lance Franklin kicked a bag on me.
It was in 2008 and Bud was up and about and would go on to crack the ton that year and Hawthorn would win the flag.
We weren’t going too well and probably knew deep down we were in for a bit of a touch up that day.
It came out a few years ago that in the rooms before the game, Bud apparently said to a teammate, ‘I just don’t want to do this to a brother’ with a smile on his face.
He seemed to know I’d be playing on him, and he showed no mercy.
I did all I could but he was just kicking them from everywhere, and I could tell he sort of felt sorry for me.
At one stage he said to me he couldn’t believe they were leaving us one-out and giving him so much space inside 50.
Bud ended up with nine goals, and we were thrashed.
The funny thing is when we reviewed the tape, there were actually a lot of contests I thought I did pretty well in.
He was just getting so much supply and he had that magic left boot going that day, so I had a front-row seat to his greatness.
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He’s definitely right up there in terms of the best I’ve seen being out on the ground with.
There’s Goodesy, Bud, Cyril Rioli and Eddie Betts that stand out, and I couldn’t split them.
It was certainly an interesting experience and I took a lot of learnings from playing as a backman, which I think have helped me play as a forward and in the middle later in my career.
That wasn’t the end of me as a defender as I finished off the season there before going back to the ruck the next year when David Hille went down with a knee.
For the most part, I’ve stayed there ever since.
EARLY DAYS
I got my love of the game from my dad.
From a young age I was playing footy in Geraldton at my local club, the Rovers Football Club.
I’d play my game and then hang around to watch my dad, who played with the seniors.
I’d also run the water for his team and was always looking for ways to get involved.
Footy has always been a big part of the family, and I grew up a North Melbourne fan after my dad.
Whenever we were at our local footy club we were always tuned in to watch the Kangas play.
He loved the likes of Wayne Carey, Byron Pickett, Winston Abraham, Glenn Archer and players of that ilk.
When I was about seven he decided to join the police force in Geraldton after finishing up his academy training in Perth.
Dad started as a police liaison officer and today he’s a senior sergeant running Australia’s only Indigenous-run police station, which I’m so proud of.
He’s always been really good in the way he polices and he’s making the community a lot better, which is off the back of his relationship with the elders and the people in the town.
SIR DOUG NICHOLLS ROUND
Sir Doug Nicholls Round means the world to all of my people.
Firstly, we’re so thankful to all the past Aboriginal players that have paved the way for us.
Without them going through a lot of hard times, I’m not sure there’d be too many of us boys running around in the AFL today.
There’s been a lot of talk about the flag this week, and it’s disappointing it’s happened because it means so much to us as all.
To not be able to have it painted on the ground this weekend is a shame because it’s something we love seeing.
We wear the flag with pride and love it that much, so to not be able to see it as much this week will put a little dampener on it all.
But it won’t take from the fact it is such a great round that I look forward to every year.
CALLING OUT RACISM
There’s still racial abuse happening on social media and it’s something I’ll always call out.
It’s about holding people accountable for the words they say.
There’s so much education happening that there’s no excuse anymore to not know these comments are hurtful and that you can’t say them.
That’s off the back of the players banding together with the AFL, and I think especially Paul Marsh at the AFLPA.
Marshy is the first person to call it out as soon as it happens, which I think is awesome.
As a player, I take a lot of comfort in knowing the AFL and the AFLPA are determined to stamp this behaviour out.
We’ve seen it this week with the online racial abuse of Swan Elijah Taylor, who I believe is a distant relation of mine on my mother’s side.
I’ll reach out to him to see how he’s going and to make sure he’s OK, because he knows he’s done the wrong thing and the Swans are handling that.
That’s not for me to speak on, but I will speak on the racial abuse he copped online.
It’s just not on.
BECOMING A BOMBER
I was told to pack my bags before the 2005 national draft had even started.
My parents flew over to Melbourne with me to be there, and I was basically told I should be prepared to stay because I wouldn’t be going back to Perth.
I spoke to a few clubs beforehand like Collingwood, Carlton and Hawthorn, who all had two picks each before Essendon at pick 7.
And they were the ones that called out my name.
We had a feeling it would be the Bombers, but it was still a shock which quickly turned into excitement.
I had a lot of family members that supported the Bombers so I knew they would have been jumping around.
It was an awesome club to go to and I settled in well
Homesickness has been a constant for me through my career, and it’s something I’ve gone in and out of.
In the early days at Essendon my best mates were Courtenay Dempsey, who I got drafted with, my then housemate Nathan Lovett-Murray and Andrew Lovett.
We had a good crew of Indigenous boys when I first started that I would hang out with, which helped my transition.
I loved the games on the big stages like Anzac Day and Dreamtime at the ’G.
Every year they were the games I really wanted to be playing in.
The atmosphere and the intensity goes to a different level, and the way the boys cracked in for those games was something I thrived off.
SUPPLEMENTS SAGA
I’ve moved on from the Essendon supplements saga, although the emotions still bubble to the surface from time to time.
I know that because if someone makes a negative comment about it, I tend to sometimes arc up.
It still makes me angry to hear some of the barbs, but if I’m not prodded it doesn’t really faze me.
For my own mental wellbeing, I’ve done a lot of work in knowing who I am, which has allowed me to move past it.
By the time I had to serve the suspension, I’d already left to join Port Adelaide.
At the end of the 2014 season, my wife Jess and I were concerned for the health of our unborn child after being told of the potential risks of the supplements program when interviewed by ASADA.
The unknown was the scary part.
It created a lot of stress and worry in our lives, but we’re thankful nothing’s come out of it and Harlan is today fit and healthy.
That whole experience was a factor in leaving the Bombers, and I also felt like I needed a change of scenery.
I tried to look at the year-long suspension in 2016 as a positive.
In the year before that I had an achilles problems, so it was a good opportunity for me to really rest it up and then build it back up.
The time to heal helped me earn All-Australian selection and a best-and-fairest at the Power in 2017.
I was quite proud to have a season like that after everything that had happened.
Port Adelaide was a really good move for me.
JOINING THE SAINTS
St Kilda has helped heal some of my wounds.
At the end of last year, I was disappointed at not being wanted by Port Adelaide.
I loved my time under Kenny Hinkley, but the club decided they wanted to go in a different direction.
That was the call they decided to make, although I disagreed with it as I still thought I had good footy left in me and I loved the club so much.
I didn’t want to leave, but I respected their decision.
It took a little bit of time to get over the disappointment of not being there anymore because I loved the place.
But the more I’ve settled in at St Kilda, the more I’ve moved past that.
The Saints felt like a new challenge and a fresh start.
That sort of stood out to me a lot more than going back to Essendon, which was also an option at the end of last year.
I toured the club and spoke to them because I respect them and I’ll always be grateful to them for giving me my first crack at AFL.
That will never change, but I just felt the Saints would be a better move for me.
There were sentimental reasons as well.
I’m very close with Jake Carlisle and Brendon Lade, who was my ruck coach at Port and is one of my favourite coaches who knows how to get the best out of me.
Also my cousin Brad Hill was there and I always wanted to play with him.
That was the biggest lure for me, and I’m glad today I’m a Saint.
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