https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au The complete history of Australia's greatest sporting club Tue, 30 Jan 2024 23:13:09 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.0.21 https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/one-hit-wonders-alan-ryan/ Wed, 17 May 2017 04:32:07 +0000 https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/?p=12236 The Age detailed: “Bounced in the centre as the timekeepers were ticking off the last few seconds, the ball was flashed forward to the Collingwood forward line where a terrific scrimmage took place.” In the next passage of play, Ryan was “fouled” and umpire George Frood paid a free kick to him, much to the roar of disapproval from the Fitzroy crowd. The Magpies were six points in arrears. The free kick would be taken “forty yards” out, but there were other difficulties apart from the distance – a swarm of fans had rushed onto the field after the final bell. As The Age went on to explain: “With the umpires and a mounted trooper holding back hundreds of persons who had entered the area, Ryan, the Collingwood half-forward, who had been fouled a split second before the final bell, took his kick after time had been called.” Incredibly, the trooper’s horse made it more difficult when it reared as Ryan came in for his kick. The stakes were high. A miss would see Fitzroy win the game. A goal would at least record a draw – and two premiership points – salvaging something out of the contest against the Magpies’ long-time rival. Known as ‘Ginger’, owing to the colour of his hair, Ryan put his name in the record books with a drop kick that not only went the distance but was accurate enough to ensure this match ended in a dramatic draw. It was, as one newspaper said, “one of the most exciting (games) of the season … the Collingwood men providing a sensational finish by levelling the scores with the lack kick of the engagement. Amidst terrific excitement, (Ryan) aimed accurately … and the beautiful drop-kicked goal levelled the scores, thus ending in a sensational manner a contest that had been packed with thrills right from the beginning.” Ryan would only play two more games in that 1935 season. Five games followed in 1936, and again in 1937, before he closed out with nine games in his last year in 1938. He just couldn’t consistently maintain a spot in the competitive Collingwood side, with his last game coming in the 1938 semi-final win against Footscray. But regardless of that fact, ‘Ginger’ Ryan would forever be recalled for the moment in which he held his nerve as the crowd swarmed around him and he kicked truly when the Magpies desperately needed him too.]]> https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/collingwood-and-geelong-played-out-a-rare-draw-in-1934/ Fri, 01 Aug 2014 00:50:35 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/?p=4101