Ricky Dyson

Ricky Dyson
Personal information
Full name Ricky Dyson
Date of birth (1985-09-28) 28 September 1985
Original team(s) Epping
Draft #44, 2003 National Draft, Essendon
Height / weight 182 cm / 82 kg
Position(s) Midfield
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2004–2012 Essendon 114 (43)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2012.

Ricky Dyson, (born 28 September 1985) is an Australian rules footballer originally from the Epping Football Club who in 2012 was played for Essendon in the AFL.

Drafted at number 44 in the 2003 AFL Draft, Dyson plays mainly as a midfielder. He has struggled to maintain his place in the side due to a combination of inconsistent form and injuries, only playing more than 11 games in a season three times in his eight-season career.[1]

AFL career

Having played for the Northern Knights in the TAC Cup, Ricky Dyson was taken in the Australian Football League's 2003 National Draft with the overall pick No. 44, by the Essendon Football Club.[2] He made his debut, aged 18, in Round 3 of the 2004 AFL season, when Essendon played the West Coast Eagles at Docklands Stadium on the 10th of April, under coach Kevin Sheedy,[3] and captain James Hird.[4] Dyson initially found himself to be less active in discussion during team meetings, having come into a playing group that had recently won a premiership, and instead preferred to listen. He would go on to play 11 games in his debut season.[1]

Dyson managed to play 10 games in his second season, having been affected by groin soreness. During the pre-season the next year, Dyson was assaulted in Port Melbourne, interrupting his preparation. In addition, he continued to be plagued by groin soreness during the season proper, although he managed to play 10 consecutive games for the first time, finishing the year with 17 games in total. Dyson nonetheless struggled to retain his spot in the senior side, and began to doubt his playing ability as a result.[1]

At the end of the 2007 AFL season, Dyson was offered a three-year contract at the Fremantle Football Club—an offer he reluctantly considered, given the stop-start nature of his career at Essendon. At the same time, Sheedy was replaced as coach of Essendon by Matthew Knights, who had previously coached Essendon's VFL affiliate, the Bendigo Bombers. Knights had frequently bolstered Dyson's confidence whenever he had been dropped from the senior side to play for Bendigo, and told Dyson that he would be a required player at Essendon. Having not particularly wanted to leave Essendon anyway, Dyson agreed to stay and play under Knights.[1]

During 2008, Dyson yet again had his football career interrupted, this time by an appendectomy.[1]

Prior to the Anzac Day clash in 2009, Dyson was dropped from the senior side to instead play for Bendigo. The day before the match he was brought back into the senior side with a late change, replacing the injured Mark McVeigh. Given an opportunity that he would not have had previously, Dyson purely wanted to "play [his] role for the team." He went on to amass 27 disposals, and kicked 2 goals, one of them coming from the boundary line at a critical stage late in the game[1] in what would be his 5th best game statistically over the course of his career to date. Dyson would go on to play every game in Essendon's home-and-away season, as well as the Elimination Final—his first—against Adelaide at Football Park.[5]

The following year, in 2010, Dyson lost the confidence of Knights, making only nine appearances for the year.[6]

In 2011 AFL season, Dyson's former captain James Hird succeeded Knights as senior coach of Essendon.[4] Dyson spent the earlier parts of the season in the VFL playing for Bendigo and was seen as a standout there in the player review at the end of the year.[7] His wait for a call-up to the seniors was a protracted one until he was selected to play against Richmond in Round 16, 11 months after his previous senior appearance.[6]

He played his 100th AFL game in Round 19 against Collingwood at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 31 July.[8] Dyson was primarily used in 2011 as a running defender who would rotate through the midfield.[7]

On 12 January 2016 Dyson was named as one of 34 past and present Essendon players found guilty over their use of illegal supplements during the 2012 AFL season. As a result, Dyson was suspended from playing at all levels for twelve months, effective from November 2015.[9]

Player profile

Ricky Dyson's personal philosophy when playing football is to "always back [his] skills in." Dyson's second senior coach, Matthew Knights, particularly valued his speed, his left-foot kick, and his football brain. Knights in particular noticed an improvement in Dyson by the second year of his tenure as coach, citing his improved intensity and endurance as a young midfielder, exhibiting calmer and more effective decision-making on field than he had in his younger years, and although Knights also conceded that Dyson still had much room for improvement, the enhancement of the young man's quality as a player had been of great benefit to the team.[1] Even when Dyson was regularly playing in 2009 however, he came under criticism for his game style, which was described as "outside," although his speed and kicking was still appreciated.[6]

Personal life

For several years Dyson participated in Essendon's "On the Ball" program, which involved him and teammate Brent Prismall, as well as netball players Shelley O'Donnell and Bianca Chatfield, meeting with school groups and educating them on issues such as drug use and sports. Dyson took a year off from the program in 2008 to study and complete a personal training course.[1]

Statistics

[5]
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
Season Team # Games G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
Totals Averages (per game)
2004 Essendon 36 11 7 3 53 30 83 22 9 0.6 0.3 4.8 2.7 7.6 2.0 0.8
2005 Essendon 2 10 9 4 91 44 135 32 11 0.9 0.4 9.1 4.4 13.5 3.2 1.1
2006 Essendon 2 17 9 8 124 100 224 40 28 0.5 0.5 7.3 5.9 13.2 2.4 1.6
2007 Essendon 2 11 3 2 70 69 139 29 16 0.3 0.2 6.4 6.3 12.6 2.6 1.4
2008 Essendon 2 15 3 2 145 122 267 48 29 0.2 0.1 9.7 8.1 17.8 3.2 1.9
2009 Essendon 2 23 8 8 266 170 436 79 55 0.4 0.4 11.6 7.4 19.0 3.4 2.4
2010 Essendon 2 9 1 4 92 54 146 40 23 0.1 0.4 10.2 6.0 16.2 4.4 2.6
2011 Essendon 2 6 0 0 52 36 88 18 17 0.0 0.0 8.7 6.0 14.7 3.0 2.8
2012 Essendon 2 12 3 5 157 72 229 65 24 0.2 0.4 13.1 6.0 19.1 5.4 2.0
Career 114 43 36 1050 697 1747 373 212 0.4 0.3 9.2 6.1 15.3 3.3 1.9

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Quayle, Emma (31 May 2009). "Ricky Dyson growing up". The Age. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
  2. ↑ "AFL NATIONAL DRAFT SELECTIONS: 2003" (PDF). afl.com.au. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
  3. ↑ "AFL Tables - Essendon v West Coast - 10-Apr-2004 - Match Stats". AFL Tables. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
  4. 1 2 "Essendon Football Club - History - Club Honours". Essendon Football Club. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
  5. 1 2 "Ricky Dyson statistics". AFL Tables. Retrieved 14 March 2012.
  6. 1 2 3 Rielly, Stephen (July 9, 2011). "Dons' Dyson dares to be different". The Australian. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
  7. 1 2 "Ricky Dyson Player Profile bio". Essendon Football Club. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
  8. ↑ "AFL Tables - Collingwood v Essendon - 31-Jul-2011 - Match Stats". AFL Tables. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
  9. ↑ Travis King (12 January 2016). "Guilty: court bans the Essendon 34 for 2016". Australian Football League. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/1/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.