LAST year’s semi-final exit and watching the Wallabies World Cup heroics has Waratahs prop Paddy Ryan champing at the bit to engage into the Super Rugby season.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
“There’s nothing to make you want to play footy more than watching the Wallabies go well at the World Cup,” the Tamworth product said after having his first run for the season at Wagga earlier this month.
The Waratahs bowing out in the semi-finals in their pursuit of back-to-back titles has also left a lingering hunger.
He’ll get the chance to feed on Saturday night when the Waratahs open their campaign against old enemy Queensland.
Ryan has been named to start.
The Waratahs head into the season on the back of successive hard-fought five-point trial losses to the Chiefs and Highlanders.
They had travelled over to New Zealand buoyant after running down the Brumbies in the final minute in Wagga to start their season on a winning note.
“That was a really strong Brumbies team and we got them,” Ryan said.
He started the game and said it was great to get out there.
“It was just good to play after three months of hard training,” he said.
It’s not his favourite part of life as a professional footballer.
It had been a bit of a longer wait for him between games too after missing the National Rugby Championship with a neck injury.
On the lower scale of neck injuries, he said there wasn’t any concern he wouldn’t get back.
It was more frustrating having to watch from the sidelines.
Having shrugged off that, the 27-year old enjoyed a bit of a different pre-season.
As well as the hard training slog, he also spent a bit of time out on the water in preparation for his adventure on the high seas as part of the crew of Brindabella.
“Before Christmas I was doing a fair bit of sailing most weekends,” he said.
It was a short-lived adventure with the boat forced to turn back on the first night.
Ryan still loved it.
“It was a bloody great experience,” he said.
“It was a shame we couldn’t get down there but hopefully we’ll have better luck next time.”
The off-season saw the departure of several familiar faces as well as coach Michael Cheika, but Ryan said not a lot has changed under new coach Daryl Gibson.
“I think we just want to build on the foundation we’ve started the last three years,” he said.
“We really pride ourselves on playing attacking rugby.”
It’s a style that has really engaged the NSW public, and they intend to continue with.
Their physicality is something they’re also very proud of.
“We’re not trying to rewrite the book,” Ryan said.
“We’re just looking at ways to maintain the identity that we’ve built up.”
“The fundamentals will be quite similar, we might just go about it differently.”
This year’s competition will feature a side from Argentina and Japan for the first time.
“We go over to Japan in July,” Ryan said.
“It’s pretty exciting and a good example of how fortunate we are as rugby players and where we get to go.”
It will resume the season for them after the break for the June tests.
