Star defender Luke Ryan has no plans to ride the coattails of his 2020 All Australian season, saying he’s hungry to improve as he approaches his fifth season in the AFL.
Last season Ryan became the first defender since Dale Kickett in 1997 to win the Doig Medal, as he dominated in the air and on the rebound to help Fremantle build one of the best backlines in the competition.
Ryan said he had no plans to let 2020 be his peak, citing a conversation with new assistant coach Matthew Boyd as motivation.
A 292-game legend at the Western Bulldogs, Boyd is a three-time All Australian and Bulldogs best and fairest winner, as well as a premiership player in 2016.
“I spoke to ‘Boydy’ yesterday about it. If you want to be a great player you need to play well for a certain amount of years. You can’t just have one good year,” Ryan said.
“I’ve got to look for ways to improve my game. It’s going to be a different role this year but I’m excited for it and I’m definitely picking the brains of the older guys, JL (senior coach Justin Longmuir) and Matty Boyd. I’m looking forward to it.”
The 187cm Ryan filled in as a ‘tall’ defender after injury hit Fremantle’s key defensive stocksin 2020 and he expects to return to playing a medium defender role when the likes of Joel Hamling, Alex Pearce and Griffin Logue return.
“We’ve got a tall backline. I might not even be a third tall, I might just be the bloke in the back pocket! I’m excited for any role I get,” Ryan said.
“(Hamling and Pearce), they’re looking really well. They’ve trained every session they can and I’m sure they’ll be fit and ready to go by round one.
“They’re very excited, they’ve had a long time off and to see them training together and working together, it’s really exciting for us and it helps us younger backs.”
Ryan added that emerging defenders Heath Chapman and Hayden Young could add another dimension to Freo’s defence.
“Heath Chapman, he looks like he’s played the game for two or three years already,” Ryan said.
“Hayden’s looking really good. He’s a lot fitter, a lot stronger. Even now, when he takes kick ins or does his running off half back, his leg just looks unbelievable at the moment. It’s exciting for us.”
But Ryan said the most exciting player on the track this pre-season had been a young midfield gun.
“Caleb Serong’s looking pretty good at the moment I think,” Ryan said.
“He’s dominating clearances. He’s looking like he’s taken his game to another level again (as well as) all the young mids, Andy Brayshaw and Adam Cerra. It’s exciting times.”
