It was worth the wait for Samson Ryan.
Exactly 21 months after finishing with no disposals and just one hit-out on debut at senior level with Richmond, the young, talented, tall forward-ruckman had a significant impact for the Tigers in his second game.
Ryan’s debut was against St Kilda at the MCG in Round 15 of the 2021 season on Friday, June 25.
It was a bleak night weather-wise, for Ryan, and the Tigers, who were beaten by 40 points.
The 206cm, 22-year-old was recalled to Richmond’s senior side for the Round 2 match against Adelaide at Adelaide Oval yesterday (March 25, 2023), following a strong pre-season, and he grabbed his opportunity in impressive style.
Ryan took four marks, three of them inside the Tigers’ forward-50 area and kicked an equal game-high three goals (3.0) in the team’s 32-point win.
His performance was one of the highlights of the match for Richmond coach Damien Hardwick.
“I thought we found a kid today . . . Samson Ryan,” Hardwick said in his post-game press conference.
“He took some big marks and kicked three big goals and was probably unlucky a couple of other times not to get some free kicks, because he’s that tall.
“If we can just get them into his game, that’d be a great result.”
