Luke Ryan says there are plenty of lessons to take from a tough loss on debut, after Collingwood ran out 20 point winners over Fremantle on Sunday at Domain Stadium.
A mature age draftee, Ryan held his own at half-back, battling well against more seasoned AFL opponents with six tackles and two rebound 50s alongside his seven disposals on debut.
“It’s a lot different to playing in the WAFL,” Ryan said.
“It’s a bit quicker and there’s a lot more stronger bodies.
“I’ve got one under my belt and, hopefully, we’ll get a couple more and find it a little easier next time.”
Looking back on his debut, Ryan said that he learnt about the importance of staying mentally strong.
“I noticed how you’ve got to be switched on 24/7 and not take one second off,” Ryan said.
“You’ve always got to be looking around and talking (to your teammates) and always be switched on.”
Ryan said senior coach Ross Lyon highlighted Fremantle’s need to curb their opponent’s ability to score from the stoppages after nine of Collingwood’s 15 goals came from that area.
“We put in the effort but it was a couple of skill errors and we got worked around at the stoppages,” Ryan said.
“There’s a few tweaks (to make) around the stoppages but we’ll work hard on that at training and look to fix that up against Brisbane.”
“But the effort was there and we’re proud of that effort, especially for a young group.
Twice Fremantle were able to fight back from multiple goal deficits, including in the final term where Freo tied the scores after starting the quarter 13-points down.
Ryan said it was crucial that Fremantle were able to wrestle back the momentum a slow start to the game.
“It was very important, our last halves have been really good this season,” Ryan said.
“It’s just something we need to work on with our opening halves, we’ve just not starting so well."
