Liam Ryan's old coach, Dave Fiorenza, liked to challenge his young prospect when he was playing his early senior football for Rovers in the Great Northern League of mid-west Western Australia a few years ago.
Yamatji man Ryan was playing seniors and kicking truckloads of goals from the time he was 15, clearly a freakish talent. He'd come from a rich pedigree – both his father Darren and his uncle Bob were legendary Geraldton players who had made the 400-kilometre trek to play in the WAFL for Claremont, albeit briefly.
Liam Ryan has brought some flair to the Eagles.
Photo: AAP
So Fiorenza, who has a close relationship with the West Coast's sensational new small forward to this day, would shift him up to the wing. "He was kicking five, six goals a week and he thought he could just sit back and do that," said Fiorenza. "I wanted him to run around a bit, because he could."
Not surprisingly, Fiorenza is feeling proud right now. Ryan has not only graduated to the WAFL with 73 goals for Subiaco last season, he has exploded on to the AFL scene with mark and goal-of-the-year nominations in his two games for the Eagles against Sydney and Western Bulldogs.
Ryan, 21, joins a long list of Geraldton products to make the elite level, including one, Geelong's Harry Taylor, who will be on the other side for Sunday's match in Perth. Gold Coast's gifted Jack Martin also hails from the seaport north of Perth, as does West Coast's Josh Kennedy and Port Adelaide's All-Australian Paddy Ryder, whose family are close friends with Ryan's family. In the past, the region has produced players of the calibre of Chris Mainwaring, Paul Hasleby and Michael Brennan at AFL level.
