Liam Ryan Biography

West Coast coach Adam Simpson wants Liam Ryan says he will take a patient approach with the premiership forward.

Ryan missed almost all of last year after surgery on his left hamstring following an awkward landing in the round three Western Derby loss to Fremantle.

The 27-year-old suffered another huge blow in January when he tore his right hamstring, leading to another round of surgery.

Ryan made a successful return to the WAFL last month, playing in the unfamiliar role of a rebounding defender, but his performances since making his AFL return a fortnight ago have been underwhelming.

"We probably haven't seen that speed and agility and flying for those marks just yet (in his AFL games this season), but I'm pretty patient," Simpson said.

"He's been out for a year, two significant injuries, so it's just going to have to take time."

Liam Ryan could be sidelined for the start of the 2024 season after scans revealed a high-grade hamstring injury and tendon damage.

The 27-year-old sustained the injury to his right leg at training on Monday and will now undergo surgery to repair the damage.

West Coast slams a racist social media post targeting star forward Liam Ryan's twin sons on social media.

"The West Coast Eagles again condemns in the strongest possible way a vile racist slur targeting Liam Ryan’s young family," the Eagles said in the statement.

"That these kinds of posts continue to be published on social media is both abhorrent and frustrating. As a club we stand with our Indigenous players, community and members in standing against this divisive and reprehensible behaviour."

Liam Ryan signs a contract extension with West Coast to remain at the club until the end of 2022.

Liam Ryan will decide if he plays against Collingwood after experiencing a personal tragedy involving an eight-year-old boy who was killed after being struck by a truck near Mandurah.

"There is a connection there and obviously that's a private matter that we have the utmost respect for. He's dealing with that at the moment and it's tragic news for everyone, but to be connected to it our heart goes out to Liam and his family," West Coast coach Adam Simpson said.

"Obviously it's a private issue and he'll deal with that the best way he can and we're here to support."

West Coast forward Oscar Allen says the players are wrapping their arms around Liam Ryan after he was subjected to a vile racist attack on social media.

Ryan was live streaming on Instagram when a follower posted a racist comment about the AFL goalsneak's daughter.

"Liam's a really good family man and a great person, so it's really sad he has to deal with anything like that," Allen said.

"Any form of racial vilification is taking it too far. I don't think it should matter if it's towards the child or him.

"He's in good spirits. He was disappointed, but he's pretty thick-skinned. He's been through a lot in his life.

"Probably educating people is a big thing. I don't want it to happen. We love Liam, we love all of our Indigenous players. They're a great part of our culture here."

The AFL issues a response to a racist social media attack on West Coast forward Liam Ryan and his family.

The latest attack was a comment targeted at one of Ryan's children, who appeared with him in a live Instagram video on his account.

"The AFL is disgusted by the continued abuse of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians in our game. Our society expects better and our players deserve better. This needs to end," the AFL statement read.

"The AFL is and will continue to work with social media platforms to protect our players and to stamp out all forms of vilification."

The AFL's general manager of inclusion and social policy, Tanya Hosch, as well as the West Coast Eagles have also thrown their support behind Ryan.

Liam Ryan wins the 2019 Mark of the Year award.

Ryan had two of the final three nominations but it was his spectacular effort against Melbourne in round nine that won him the award.

After a gut-busting run into the forward line, the Eagles forward used Demons ruckman Max Gawn as a stepladder to pull in his jaw-dropping grab.

"Cheers, Maxy," he said with a big smile after accepting his award.

Richmond suspends a club member for two years after an AFL investigation revealed the member was responsible for racist taunts of West Coast's Liam Ryan on social media.

"Racial vilification has no place in our game, and no place in our society, and the club will continue to take strong measures to ensure there is zero tolerance to this behaviour," the club said in a statement.

Liam Ryan is the subject of racist comments on a 7AFL Instagram post.

"The comments posted by some people on social media are absolutely abhorrent," Eagles chief executive Trevor Nisbett said.

"These keyboard cowards must be held to account. To have this occurring so consistently, albeit by a minority of people, is distressing and completely unacceptable.

"Our society expects better, our players expect better and our club expects better. This must stop and we must make a stand."

West Coast coach Adam Simpson confirms that Liam Ryan walked out on team's tough biennial camp at the Stirling Ranges in southern Western Australia.

"It was a physical camp. He's pretty fit, he ran well today, but he didn't handle it (the camp) too well to the back end so we pulled him out and we took him home," Simpson said.

"We're not here to break these guys. It's to test them physically and he didn’t get through it, but that's OK. I'm not too stressed about that."

Liam Ryan is embroiled in another alleged off-field incident after being issued with a move-on notice by WA Police at the weekend.

The Eagles are investigating the incident stemming from a family dispute in Kalbarri, nearly 600km north of Perth and close to Ryan's home town Geraldton.

Liam Ryan is fined $1700 and banned from driving for 18 months after he was caught drink driving earlier in the year.

Ryan crashed his car into a tree and was nabbed at a nearby park in Armadale on July 2, with a subsequent blood alcohol sample revealing he had a reading of 0.138g.

"Liam takes full responsibility for his actions and both he and the club accept that the penalty is fair and reasonable," West Coast said in a statement.

"The club will continue to educate Liam around this matter, always placing his health and wellbeing as the major priority."

Liam Ryan is confident he has turned his life around, saying his early-morning car crash in July was a big wake-up call.

"That car crash really straightened me up. I really had a lot of support from the boys," he said.

"I had a bit of stuff going on off the field. But now I'm fine, I'm all cleared with all that, and just focused on finals footy."

Willie Rioli praises the way Eagles teammate Liam Ryan has rebounded from his off-field dramas, saying the goalsneak has earned back the respect of the playing group.

Ryan was handed a two-match club-imposed ban in July over an early-morning incident that ended with him crashing his car into a tree.

The 21-year-old had to win back his senior spot via the WAFL, and he's performed strongly since returning to AFL ranks in round 20.

"He copped his criticism over the incident but that doesn't define him as a person," Rioli said.

"The reason why he's playing good footy is because he's doing that extra hard work off the field to get that respect back from the boys.

"I reckon he's done himself proud to get back to where he is because a lot of people find it hard to get back from situations like that."

West Coast coach Adam Simpson has revealed small forward Liam Ryan had been drinking alcohol in the lead-up to his car crash last Monday.

The club is rallying around the first-year Eagle, who will return to football on Saturday via East Perth in the WAFL after sitting out last round.

"He was out too late and he was drinking, so we have to respect that he's broken those codes of conduct, so he won't play again this week," Simpson said.

"We need to look after his wellness and some of the things going on in his life that we've got to deal with.

"We'll work through that, we're here to support him."

Liam Ryan is ruled out of this week's clash between the Eagles and GWS as he deals with legal issues surrounding the crashing of his car into a tree.

"Liam has and will continue to fully co-operate with the police in respect of Monday morning’s incident," Eagles general manager of football Craig Vozzo said.

"Football considerations are secondary to his personal circumstances at present and we will wait until there is some clarity around the situation before making any further comment."

Liam Ryan makes a surprise return to training, but mystery still surrounds the details behind his recent car crash.

"He's probably a little bit embarrassed about what happened. But he'll work through that, and we'll help him through it," Eagles teammate Elliot Yeo said.

"What you see is what you get with Liam. He's a ball of fun, and it's good to have him around the club.

"I'm sure in the next couple of weeks he'll be back to his high spirits and playing pranks on everyone."

Liam Ryan is in doubt this week after crashing his car into a tree.

West Coast coach Adam Simpson admitted the high-flying Subiaco product had struggled with some of the demands of elite football this season.

"At the moment, we're just trying to look after his health and wellbeing," Simpson said of Ryan.

"It's been a big transition for Liam, playing AFL, he's recently had the birth of his baby daughter.

"So just dealing with the AFL system and all those things is something we're working through."

Liam Ryan extends his two-year draft contract with West Coast by a year to remain at the club until the end of 2020.

"The speed that he brings to the game we’ve seen in the past for Subiaco, but he’s taken that to a new level and he’s able to repeat it more now that he’s got a better fitness base," West Coast list manager Brady Rawlings said.

"He’s going to be a bit of a crowd favourite with his ability to sit on a few heads and kick some freakish goals."

Liam Ryan has avoided surgery but will be grounded for up to three months after suffering a nasty ankle injury against Geelong.

Liam Ryan is set for an extended period on the sidelines after hearing a crack when he landed awkwardly after soccering the go-ahead goal against Geelong at Optus Stadium.

"I think he'll probably have an extended period off football, which is really unfortunate because he was producing some really good highlight reels for us and kicking some goals," Eagles coach Adam Simpson said.

Liam Ryan shows glimpses of his talent in West Coast's 51-point win over the Bulldogs.

Ryan soared for a spectacular mark over Jackson Trengove while finishing the game with 3 goals from 14 disposals.

Following the game, Ryan credited Lewis Jetta for giving him he confidence to play AFL footy.

"We had a chat last night. He told me just to play footy. We've gotten close," Ryan said of Jetta.

"I travelled over with him. He looked after me as a brother, looking after a little indigenous brother.

"That's what we came to Melbourne with. Brotherhood. It's what we played with and why we won."

Liam Ryan makes his AFL debut for West Coast at Perth Stadium with 12 disposals (9 kicks and 3 handballs), 3 marks, a tackle and a goal in a 29-point loss to Sydney.

West Coast are hoping draftee Liam Ryan will form an exciting partnership with Willie Rioli up forward for the Eagles in 2018.

"The chemistry, especially between him and Willie, is very good," Eagles forward line coach Jaymie Graham said of Ryan.

"He's fitting in well and he's still got plenty of upside and a lot to learn, but it will be exciting to see the two of them fit and available and playing in the same team."

When Subiaco excitement machine Liam Ryan was overlooked in the 2016 drafts, many people were left scratching their heads.

12 months later – the 21-year-old admits he probably wouldn't have been ready for the step up.

"Last year really I didn't take things serious," Ryan said.

"I used to drink alcohol a lot last year, but now I've got a baby on the way and got a girlfriend to settle me right down. So I don't drink no more."

After seeing Ryan's change in attitude first-hand, it came as no surprise to Subiaco coach Jarrad Schofield that his star spearhead won the WAFL's goalkicking this year and finished eighth in the Sandover Medal.

"It's mainly based on his attitude and commitment to training, understanding the requirements to succeed," Schofield said.

"It's only his second season of WAFL, he's had close attention and kicked 73 goals."