Patrick Ryen

Love my family and friends
Health/Fitness 🥊
Viking Aussie 🇦🇺🇳🇴
Essendon Football Club Track Watcher
🖤❤️👊 @essendonfc

[Patrick Ryen @PatrickRyen]

I BELIEVE ETHAN DREVER WILL BE ESSENDON’S PICK 1 in the open draft!

👀❤️🖤

I’m calling it now. Ethan Drever to the Bombers!

188cm. Powerful. Tough. Clean. Explosive. Can win it inside, burst from congestion and then take the game on.

And that speed is real. Drever ran a 2.905-second 20m sprint at the Draft Combine, showing exactly the sort of burst you want in a modern midfielder! 🚀

He also fits beautifully with the direction Mark McVeigh is bringing to Essendon.

Speed. Attack. Flair. Aggression. Moving the ball forward.
Drever has the tools to play exactly that way.

Pick 1. Ethan Drever. That’s my call. 👊
Biggest off-season in our history. We MUST nail this draft!

#godons @essendonfc #ethandrever

👊❤️🖤

[Patrick Ryen @PatrickRyen]

@DylanEmery88818 No @essendonfc if you could give fans an update on Archie May that would be much appreciated 🙏🤝

[Patrick Ryen @PatrickRyen]

PRE-SEASON TRAINING REPORT | FRIDAY 13 NOVEMBER

A very solid session for the boys today.
The heavy emphasis on fundamentals as the foundation of everything we are doing under Spike's leadership is becoming increasingly clear. Players are spending at least the first 15 minutes of every session constantly working on their fundamentals. This is the building block for everything that follows throughout training.

The education the players have clearly received off the track is now being reinforced on it. The ground is heavily marked out with lanes and various zones to help players understand precisely where they need to be and what decisions they need to make in different game scenarios.

Something I mentioned in my opening report was the importance of immediate feedback from coaches when situations unfold. That was taken to another level today. Spike was right amongst the players, directing and coaching while match simulation was in full swing.

There was also a real willingness to stop drills and address critical moments right there and then, when the message has maximum impact.
There is little point waiting until later to raise something that can be addressed in the moment. The opportunity to educate and correct is far more valuable when players can immediately understand and apply the feedback.

The feedback is firm and robust, exactly as it should be. Standards and expectations are clearly high, and anything below those standards is not being tolerated. It's a breath of fresh air to see that level of accountability and attention to detail.

There is also a very clear desire to move the ball quickly and forward by hand, keeping the game in motion and maintaining momentum.

Player availability: Perkins and Wright were on the track. Jye Caldwell didn't train today, most likely managed. Still no Archie May or Sully Robey.

All in all, a terrific session. You can clearly see what the coaching group is working towards, what they want from the players and, importantly, how they intend to get there.

Plenty of work ahead, but there are some very encouraging signs.
Go Bombers!

❤️🖤👊

#godons @essendonfc #patrickryenessendontrackwatcher

[Patrick Ryen @PatrickRyen]

@SEarith Not at this stage. I'd imagine there's something they're managing, but he's as diligent and hard-working as you'll find. He'll put in the work, get himself right and come back bigger and stronger soon enough.

[Patrick Ryen @PatrickRyen]

@Mootha27 🤝🙏

[Patrick Ryen @PatrickRyen]

@PrinceISname @HockeyJade @CharlieDons @ScooterMcNeice Pleasure Lucy I'm glad you like it and get something out of it 🙏

[Patrick Ryen @PatrickRyen]

@Grammy2601 Next time buddy 🙏

[Patrick Ryen @PatrickRyen]

@DonsDan_ Yep chalk and cheese love what Spike is doing. Scott would have been 50 metres away with his hands in his pockets.

[Patrick Ryen @PatrickRyen]

@Deanos_DT They look good Deano but means nothing until they play 👍

[Patrick Ryen @PatrickRyen]

@yowie021 Perkins looks really good running well

[Patrick Ryen @PatrickRyen]

@Bluey1834 Yep small steps Craig 👍

[Patrick Ryen @PatrickRyen]

@pazmaster16 Hes been right there buddy

[Patrick Ryen @PatrickRyen]

@GattiMichael Pleasure Michael

[Patrick Ryen @PatrickRyen]

I'm doing it to take myself down memory lane 😉🤣 and hopefully do the same for others. It's also about giving some of the younger fans an insight into what made us the best club in the land and what made Essendon so special. Something I have absolutely no doubt we will become again. So glad you're enjoying it, Brendan. ❤️🖤

[Patrick Ryen @PatrickRyen]

Next up in my Top 20 Essendon players since 1980 is the one and only Paul Salmon.

The Big Fish! What an absolute superstar and one of the most dominant full forwards to ever pull on the red and black.

Standing at 206cm, Salmon was an absolute nightmare for opposition defenders. He was enormous, powerful and had an incredible pair of hands. When that ball went high inside 50, you knew who was going to come down with it. Quite simply, no one could outmark him. He could take contested marks all day, had beautiful skills for a bloke his size and was a natural goalkicker. Primarily a full forward, he could also give the side a chop-out in the ruck when required.

Across his two stints at Essendon (1983–1995 and 2002), Salmon played 224 games and kicked 521 goals. He was a seven-time Essendon leading goalkicker, a two-time All Australian (1987 and 1988) and a dual premiership player (1985 and 1993). He was also named number 28 in the Champions of Essendon.

But there is one part of his career that still makes me wonder what might have been. That devastating knee injury absolutely broke the hearts of Essendon supporters. Salmon was on track to challenge and potentially break every previous goal-kicking record. We were watching a footballer who was capable of achieving something truly extraordinary, and to see that injury interrupt his career was heartbreaking.

I've always believed that if his body had held up, Paul Salmon would have gone on to become the greatest full forward to ever play the game. That's how highly I rate him. Just imagine the records he might have set and the goals he might have kicked.

The Big Fish gave Essendon supporters so many incredible memories. A genuine superstar, a dual premiership hero and one of the greats of our football club.

Fish was a great man off the field too. He spent plenty of time water skiing, hunting and fishing with his mates on a family farm of ours. He always loved the outdoors and spending time with his mates.

He was a gentleman, a great teammate and someone who is just as good a bloke off the field as he was on it!

❤️🖤👊

#PaulSalmon #EssendonFC #Patstop20 #godons
@essendonfc

[Patrick Ryen @PatrickRyen]

@liparota @DeanFonzy 🎯

[Patrick Ryen @PatrickRyen]

@Shayno63 Hes a ripper Shayno

[Patrick Ryen @PatrickRyen]

@MrJohnnyRainman Totally agree Johnny one of the very best 🙏

[Patrick Ryen @PatrickRyen]

@pauljames1968 Was a star Paul 💪⭐️

[Patrick Ryen @PatrickRyen]

@AAhenwood Was a shocking day

[Essendon FC @essendonfc]

One of the all-timers reflects on this morning’s past players event 🫡
https://t.co/tyk7YwW41K