Ryan Turnbull
Encyclopedia
Ryan Edwin Turnbull is a former Australian rules football
er. He played with the West Coast Eagles
in the Australian Football League
(AFL) from 1991–2001, playing in the Eagles' 1994 premiership
side. He also played for Claremont
and East Perth
in the West Australian Football League
(WAFL), winning the 2001 Sandover Medal
.
. His father played 209 games for Swan Districts in the WAFL, including the 1961, 1962 and 1963 premierships. His mother was the daughter of Ted Holdsworth
, who played 143 games for Swan Districts, kicking 532 goals. Turnbull was educated at Christ Church Grammar School
in Claremont
, Western Australia
, and played in the school's First XVIII in 1987. He also played junior football for the Karrinyup Saints Junior Football Club.
(WAAFL) in 1989 before making his debut for Claremont
in the WAFL midway through the season. He played in Claremont's 1989 premiership before being selected by the West Coast Eagles
with a compensatory pre-draft
selection, along with Peter Mann
. In the 1990 season, he did not manage to break into West Coast's senior side and or hold his place in Claremont's side, but ended up playing in Claremont's 1990 reserves premiership. Turnbull switched to East Perth
in the WAFL for the 1991 season after a difference of opinion between Claremont coach Gerard Neesham
and West Coast coach Michael Malthouse on how he was being played. Turnbull made his debut for West Coast in round 7 of the 1991 season
, against at Princes Park, as the youngest member of the team, gathering nine disposals and effecting four hit-outs partnered with Dean Irving
. He played four further games in the 1991 season, being kept out of the side by older, more experienced key-position players such as Michael Brennan
, Ashley McIntosh
, Glen Jakovich
, Dean Irving
and Stevan Jackson
. Turnbull won the F. D. Book Medal in 1991 as East Perth's best and fairest
.
Turnbull managed six games in 1992
, including five of the Eagles' first seven, but was again kept out of the side by first-choice ruckman Paul Harding. He did not play for the Eagles in 1993
, mainly due to the form of Irving and Harding, but managed to win a second F. D. Book Medal. He was a favourite for the 1993 Sandover Medal
, but lost to Robbie West
, finishing seventh overall. He broke into the Eagles' side in the 1994 season
, playing in all 23 of the Eagles' games, including the 1994 Grand Final
, which the Eagles won by 80 points. He received his first votes for the Brownlow Medal
in round 18, 1994, gaining one vote for 23-hit-out game against . Turnbull once again played in all of the Eagles' games in the 1995 season
as their first-choice ruckman.
He played the first game of the 1996 season
, but was dropped for Jason Ball. He returned to the side in round 11 after kicking seven goals in seven games with East Perth, and played all but one of the Eagles' remaining games, filling in for the injured Glen Jakovich
at centre half-back
. He was named as the ruckman in the Eagles' Team of the Decade, announced in 1996 to coincide with the AFL's centenary celebrations. He again played in every West Coast Eagles game in 1997
, playing behind Michael Gardiner
as the Eagles' back-up ruckman.
Turnbull played the first seven games of the 1998 season, again as a back-up ruckman to Gardiner, but was dropped after a round 7 game against where he only managed one disposal and one hit-out. He was recalled for the round 12 game against Hawthorn, but re-dropped after again managing only one disposal and one hit-out. He spent the rest of the 1998 season with East Perth in the WAFL.
Turnbull did not play for the Eagles in the 1999 season, with Gardiner and Jason Ball the first-choice ruck combination. He played 17 games for East Perth in the WAFL, and was considered one of the favourites for the Sandover Medal, eventually losing to Gus Seebeck
by one vote. He also won a third F. D. Book Medal as East Perth's best and fairest. Turnbull re-established himself in the Eagles' team for the 2000 season, playing all 22 games. He played as the first-choice ruckman in the second half of the season after an injury to Gardiner.
He was unable to regain a place in the Eagles' side in the 2001 season
playing only three games, behind Gardiner, Dean Cox and David Sierakowski
, before being de-listed at the end of the season. He played 17 games for East Perth in 2001, including in the 2001 premiership team, winning the Simpson Medal
as the best on ground
in the Grand Final. He also won the Sandover Medal
for the best player in the WAFL. Turnbull played 19 games for East Perth in 2002, again winning the Simpson Medal in East Perth's Grand Final victory. He continued to play for the Royals in 2003 and 2004, but was impacted by an eye injury sustained in the 2003 finals series. He retired from football at the end of the 2004 season.
for ABC Sport
, commentating on WAFL coverage. In 2010 he was inducted into the East Perth Football Club Hall of Fame.
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
er. He played with the West Coast Eagles
West Coast Eagles
The West Coast Eagles are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League. The club is based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 and played its first games in the 1987 season. Its current home ground is Subiaco Oval...
in the Australian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
(AFL) from 1991–2001, playing in the Eagles' 1994 premiership
1994 AFL Grand Final
The 1994 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Geelong Football Club and West Coast Eagles, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 1 October 1994. It was the 98th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League/Australian Football League,...
side. He also played for Claremont
Claremont Football Club
The Claremont Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers, is an Australian rules football club in the West Australian Football League . Its official colours are navy blue and gold....
and East Perth
East Perth Football Club
The East Perth Football Club, nicknamed the Royals, is an Australian rules football club that is a member of the West Australian Football League...
in the West Australian Football League
West Australian Football League
The West Australian Football League is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The WAFL is the second-most popular in the state, behind the nation-wide Australian Football League...
(WAFL), winning the 2001 Sandover Medal
Sandover Medal
The Sandover Medal is an Australian rules football award, given annually since 1921 to the fairest and best player in the West Australian Football League...
.
Early life
Turnbull was born to John Turnbull and Kaye Holdsworth on 23 September 1971, in Mount Lawley, Western AustraliaWestern Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
. His father played 209 games for Swan Districts in the WAFL, including the 1961, 1962 and 1963 premierships. His mother was the daughter of Ted Holdsworth
Ted Holdsworth
Henry Edwin Arthur "Ted" Holdsworth is a former Australian rules footballer who was highly successful in the West Australian National Football League playing for the Swan Districts Football Club....
, who played 143 games for Swan Districts, kicking 532 goals. Turnbull was educated at Christ Church Grammar School
Christ Church Grammar School
Christ Church Grammar School is an independent, Anglican day and boarding school for boys from Pre-Primary to Year 12. Located in Perth, Western Australia, the school overlooks the Swan River at Freshwater Bay in Claremont....
in Claremont
Claremont, Western Australia
Claremont is a western suburb of Perth, Western Australia on the north bank of the Swan River.-History:Prior to European settlement, the Noongar people used the area as a source of water, for fishing and for catching waterfowl. In 1830, John Butler, a settler, set up an inn at Freshwater Bay to...
, Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
, and played in the school's First XVIII in 1987. He also played junior football for the Karrinyup Saints Junior Football Club.
Career
Turnbull played for the University Football Club in the Western Australian Amateur Football LeagueWestern Australian Amateur Football League
The West Australian Amateur Football League is the largest fully amateur Australian rules football competition in Western Australia.The competition began in 1922.-Clubs:*Ballajura*Bassendean*Beechboro*Belmont Districts*Brentwood Booragoon...
(WAAFL) in 1989 before making his debut for Claremont
Claremont Football Club
The Claremont Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers, is an Australian rules football club in the West Australian Football League . Its official colours are navy blue and gold....
in the WAFL midway through the season. He played in Claremont's 1989 premiership before being selected by the West Coast Eagles
West Coast Eagles
The West Coast Eagles are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League. The club is based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 and played its first games in the 1987 season. Its current home ground is Subiaco Oval...
with a compensatory pre-draft
1989 VFL Draft
The 1989 VFL Draft was the fourth annual National Draft held by the Victorian Football League as the main method for the 14 teams to recruit players for the 1990 season. It consisted of a trading period, pre-draft selections, the main national draft and the 1990 pre-season draft and a...
selection, along with Peter Mann
Peter Mann
Peter Travis Mann is a former Australian rules footballer. who played a total of 118 matches in the AFL for the North Melbourne and Fremantle Football Clubs.- Claremont, West Coast and North Melbourne :...
. In the 1990 season, he did not manage to break into West Coast's senior side and or hold his place in Claremont's side, but ended up playing in Claremont's 1990 reserves premiership. Turnbull switched to East Perth
East Perth Football Club
The East Perth Football Club, nicknamed the Royals, is an Australian rules football club that is a member of the West Australian Football League...
in the WAFL for the 1991 season after a difference of opinion between Claremont coach Gerard Neesham
Gerard Neesham
Gerard Neesham is a former Australian rules footballer in the WAFL and VFL as well as coach in the WAFL and AFL. Today he is chief executive of the Clontarf Foundation.-Playing career:...
and West Coast coach Michael Malthouse on how he was being played. Turnbull made his debut for West Coast in round 7 of the 1991 season
1991 AFL season
Results and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 1991.See List of Australian Football League premiers for a complete list.-National Cup:...
, against at Princes Park, as the youngest member of the team, gathering nine disposals and effecting four hit-outs partnered with Dean Irving
Dean Irving
Dean Irving is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the West Coast Eagles and Melbourne in the Australian Football League during the 1990s.Irving, who came to West Coast from South Fremantle, played as a ruckman...
. He played four further games in the 1991 season, being kept out of the side by older, more experienced key-position players such as Michael Brennan
Michael Brennan (Australian rules footballer)
Michael Brennan is a former Australian rules footballer who played with West Coast in the VFL/AFL. He was a member of their inaugural side and won premierships with the club in 1992 and 1994...
, Ashley McIntosh
Ashley McIntosh
Ashley McIntosh was an Australian rules footballer for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League. He played a total of 242 games for the club and is the son of former St Kilda and Claremont player John McIntosh....
, Glen Jakovich
Glen Jakovich
Glen Jakovich is a former Australian rules footballer for the West Coast Eagles.Glen was recruited from South Fremantle in Western Australia and debuted in 1991 and played most of his career at the Centre Half Back position, in the number 27 gernsey...
, Dean Irving
Dean Irving
Dean Irving is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the West Coast Eagles and Melbourne in the Australian Football League during the 1990s.Irving, who came to West Coast from South Fremantle, played as a ruckman...
and Stevan Jackson
Stevan Jackson
Stevan Jackson is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the West Coast Eagles and Richmond in the Australian Football League.-Playing career:...
. Turnbull won the F. D. Book Medal in 1991 as East Perth's best and fairest
Best and Fairest
Best and Fairest is the term commonly used in Australian sport to describe the player adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition while not receiving a suspension for misconduct or breaching the rules during that season.In the...
.
Turnbull managed six games in 1992
1992 AFL season
Results and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 1992. The AFL Grand Final this year was won by the West Coast Eagles, who became the first non-Victorian club to win a Premiership.-Ladder:...
, including five of the Eagles' first seven, but was again kept out of the side by first-choice ruckman Paul Harding. He did not play for the Eagles in 1993
1993 AFL season
-Ladder:All teams played 20 games during the home and away season, for a total of 165. Each team also had two byes. An additional 7 games were played during the finals series.-Awards:*The Brownlow Medal was awarded to Gavin Wanganeen of ....
, mainly due to the form of Irving and Harding, but managed to win a second F. D. Book Medal. He was a favourite for the 1993 Sandover Medal
Sandover Medal
The Sandover Medal is an Australian rules football award, given annually since 1921 to the fairest and best player in the West Australian Football League...
, but lost to Robbie West
Robbie West
Robbie West is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the West Coast Eagles and Footscray in the AFL.Despite making his debut for West Coast in 1991 he never had an extended stay in the side until 1993...
, finishing seventh overall. He broke into the Eagles' side in the 1994 season
1994 AFL season
-Ladder:All teams played 22 games during the home and away season, for a total of 165. An additional 9 games were played during the finals series. It was the first season that the AFL implemented a top 8 team finals series...
, playing in all 23 of the Eagles' games, including the 1994 Grand Final
1994 AFL Grand Final
The 1994 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Geelong Football Club and West Coast Eagles, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 1 October 1994. It was the 98th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League/Australian Football League,...
, which the Eagles won by 80 points. He received his first votes for the Brownlow Medal
Brownlow Medal
The Chas Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal , is awarded to the "fairest and best" player in the Australian Football League during the regular season as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game...
in round 18, 1994, gaining one vote for 23-hit-out game against . Turnbull once again played in all of the Eagles' games in the 1995 season
1995 AFL season
Results and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 1995.-Round 1:-Round 2:-Round 3:-Round 4:*This was the first ANZAC Day clash held between Collingwood and Essendon which famously ended in a draw.-Round 5:-Round 6:...
as their first-choice ruckman.
He played the first game of the 1996 season
1996 AFL season
Results and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 1996.See List of Australian Football League premiers for a complete list.-Lighting Premiership:...
, but was dropped for Jason Ball. He returned to the side in round 11 after kicking seven goals in seven games with East Perth, and played all but one of the Eagles' remaining games, filling in for the injured Glen Jakovich
Glen Jakovich
Glen Jakovich is a former Australian rules footballer for the West Coast Eagles.Glen was recruited from South Fremantle in Western Australia and debuted in 1991 and played most of his career at the Centre Half Back position, in the number 27 gernsey...
at centre half-back
Centre half-back
In Australian rules football, the centre half-back refers to a position in the half-back line of a football field.Centre half back is considered a key position in defence. Examples of centre half-backs include Glen Jakovich, Darren Mead, Tom Harley and Chris Tarrant....
. He was named as the ruckman in the Eagles' Team of the Decade, announced in 1996 to coincide with the AFL's centenary celebrations. He again played in every West Coast Eagles game in 1997
1997 AFL season
Results and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 1997.The Port Adelaide Power joined the competition.The Brisbane Lions also joined the competition after the merger of the and ....
, playing behind Michael Gardiner
Michael S. Gardiner
Michael S. Gardiner is a former Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League. He played for the West Coast Eagles from 1997–2006 and the St Kilda Football Club from 2007–2011.- Early life :...
as the Eagles' back-up ruckman.
Turnbull played the first seven games of the 1998 season, again as a back-up ruckman to Gardiner, but was dropped after a round 7 game against where he only managed one disposal and one hit-out. He was recalled for the round 12 game against Hawthorn, but re-dropped after again managing only one disposal and one hit-out. He spent the rest of the 1998 season with East Perth in the WAFL.
Turnbull did not play for the Eagles in the 1999 season, with Gardiner and Jason Ball the first-choice ruck combination. He played 17 games for East Perth in the WAFL, and was considered one of the favourites for the Sandover Medal, eventually losing to Gus Seebeck
Gus Seebeck
Gus Seebeck is a former Australian rules footballer who played for and in the West Australian Football League/Westar Rules , and the East Coast Eagles in the AFL Sydney....
by one vote. He also won a third F. D. Book Medal as East Perth's best and fairest. Turnbull re-established himself in the Eagles' team for the 2000 season, playing all 22 games. He played as the first-choice ruckman in the second half of the season after an injury to Gardiner.
He was unable to regain a place in the Eagles' side in the 2001 season
2001 AFL season
Results and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 2001.See List of Australian Football League premiers for a complete list.-National Cup:Port Adelaide defeated Brisbane Lions 17.9 to 3.8 in the Final....
playing only three games, behind Gardiner, Dean Cox and David Sierakowski
David Sierakowski
David Sierakowski is a former Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League.He was recruited to the Saints in the 1992 AFL Draft under the father-son rule. He spent the whole of 1993 season in the reserves developing his game and settling into Melbourne life with relatives...
, before being de-listed at the end of the season. He played 17 games for East Perth in 2001, including in the 2001 premiership team, winning the Simpson Medal
Simpson Medal
The Simpson Medal, a prize for Australian rules football, has been donated by Dr. Fred Simpson and family since 1945. It is awarded to the best player in a WAFL Grand Final and the best player in an interstate game involving Western Australia....
as the best on ground
Man of the match
In sport, a Man of the Match or Player of the Game or Man of the Series award is given to the outstanding player, almost always the one who makes the most impact, in a particular match or series. The term was originally used more often in cricket before being adopted by other sports. This can be a...
in the Grand Final. He also won the Sandover Medal
Sandover Medal
The Sandover Medal is an Australian rules football award, given annually since 1921 to the fairest and best player in the West Australian Football League...
for the best player in the WAFL. Turnbull played 19 games for East Perth in 2002, again winning the Simpson Medal in East Perth's Grand Final victory. He continued to play for the Royals in 2003 and 2004, but was impacted by an eye injury sustained in the 2003 finals series. He retired from football at the end of the 2004 season.
Post-playing career
Turnbull is currently a commentatorSports commentator
In sports broadcasting, a commentator gives a running commentary of a game or event in real time, usually during a live broadcast. The comments are normally a voiceover, with the sounds of the action and spectators also heard in the background. In the case of television commentary, the commentator...
for ABC Sport
ABC Sport
ABC Sport is the name given to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's sport's programming broadcast on ABC Television and ABC Local Radio.-Television:ABC Television broadcasts significantly less sport than the other Free-to-air Australian TV networks...
, commentating on WAFL coverage. In 2010 he was inducted into the East Perth Football Club Hall of Fame.