IT'S BEEN a season of surprises for rising Richmond ruck Samson Ryan.
A series of injuries to Ivan Soldo, Toby Nankervis and Tom Lynch have seen the 22-year-old record eight straight games after breaking into the side in round two, and his influence has grown week by week.
Ryan was drafted as a Brisbane Lions Academy graduate on his 20th birthday, but started his junior footy on the New South Wales south coast, playing with both Pambula and the Merimbula Diggers.
The Ryan family moved north after Samson earned a cricket scholarship with Toowoomba Grammar, but football still held a place in his heart.
After graduating at the end of 2019, Ryan shifted to Canberra to play in the then-NEAFL competition, but came home when COVID-19 hit in March.
He hatched an 18-month plan with his new manager, Tim Batty, but such was his QAFL form with Sherwood over the remainder of 2020, Richmond picked him up with pick No.40 in the space of six months.
"I was still running three times a week, but I didn't really know why. There was a stage there where I was thinking, 'do I really want to be doing this?' I remember having a chat with Mum, we went for a walk, and I knew there was going to be 10 weeks of the (QAFL) footy season, and she said, just give it all you've got, and see what happens," Ryan told AFL.com.au.
"I played some alright footy against some bigger opposition, which was one of the most pleasing things for me. And I was just fortunate enough Richmond took notice."
Ryan's debut was one of mixed emotions, coming up against Paddy Ryder in the rain on a freezing night in late June, 2021, the Tigers falling 40 points short of St Kilda and booting 2.10 in the process.
"I call it one of the best nights of my life, and one of the worst nights. In terms of best nights, my family was there – and that was one of the most unexpected things, I hadn't played that well the week before against Williamstown (in the VFL)," he said.
"The amount of learnings I had from that night was bigger than I'll ever take from playing VFL. It also showed me where I had to get to, it was a bit of a reality check in a sense."
Ruck coach Ivan Maric – "a big, friendly giant" – has been a calming and supportive influence for Ryan, particularly last year as he toiled in the VFL, but working closely with Nankervis and Jack Riewoldt has been equally vital.
"I tried a few different things in pre-season. I'm a big, nice human being, and I just tried to – I'm not sure what the word is – but really make a stance and get noticed, try and earn some respect from the boys by going really hard at the contest," Ryan said.
"It paid off, the boys started to notice me a bit more, and probably reflected in my footy as well, being able to be used and be big around the ground. I'm 207cm and over 100kg, so I need to be a bit more of a presence."
Ryan is plugging away at his uni course which he started prior to joining the AFL, studying secondary teaching with a focus on PE and maths.
"I'm still very heavily into cricket...I still love keeping tabs on it," he said.
"And we've got a pretty big golf culture here at the club, there'd be 20-25 boys that play, so usually on a day off you'd find us playing golf somewhere.
