Toast Ryan Griffen Appreciation Thread (Bulldogs posters welcome if nice)

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NOTE: Bulldogs posters - you are welcome to post since he was an important player for your club provided you are complimentary. If you just want to troll and be nasty, do it on your own board - anything here will earn you an infraction.

GWS posters - I've invited WB posters, so please don't troll them or be nasty. Determinant and I will deal with any infractions.
 
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Griffen stats averages.PNG

Griifen stats totals.PNG

We never saw his best at GWS, but he did provide another experienced head that has assisted our rise over the last 4 seasons. Came here with a chronic back issue, and suffered other injuries once here - but battled through them to get back onto the paddock for a lot of this year.

Thanks for your blood, sweat and tackles, Ryan. I wish you well in your retirement. I suspect a lot of pighunting is planned!
 

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Whilst he never really got to his best form with us, he has always provided that workman-like attitude. He tried his guts out but you could tell tonight, and at other times during the season, that he was slowing down and was a few steps too late to contests. I wish him well in retirement.
 
Was probably our best player during our preliminary finals years of 2008-10. Took his game to a new level in 2012-13 where he was a top 5 player in the competition. Injuries derailed his career ever since.

I hope he enjoys his retirement and is welcomed back to the club with open arms. Was really sad how it ended with us, he was my favourite player for a long time. Think the club will probably need to reach out to him and I hope they do soon.
 
+1 for Griff being my favourite player for a long time. He was an excellent player. Never a huge ball winning mid except for a couple of years there, but was always extremely damaging with ball in hand.

Unsure how I feel about him these days. His exit left a sour taste in my mouth, but I feel like I pretty much got over it a couple of years later.
Good luck to him in retirement.
 
I felt really sad for Griff when he announced his retirement tonight.

When he left the way he did, it hurt a lot of us fans, as he was our best player for many years. We know a bit more now one what was causing him to feel so desperate that he walked. Time as they say heals all wounds, I hope our club reaches out to him.

All the best in retirement Griff.

Thanks GWS board for allowing us to post on here.
 
We definitely gotta see the best from Griff at the Dogs but I am glad to see that you lot appreciated him too. Thanks for the memories Griff and I wish him all the best in his retirement.

Thanks for allowing us Doggies to post here. Respect.
 
Great player and a champion at the Doggies and hope he is remembered that way despite the exit and only 4 years at the Giants that were really injury effected years I am sure he helped develop some of the younger players around the club
Interesting to see what the next stage is for him, not sure if he will stick around Sydney
 
I always loved watching him play for us. His powerful and evasive running from half back was great - no one could bring him down. He then turned himself into a complete midfielder over the last couple of years with us. Soldiered on in some ordinary teams.

I’ll never think that he handled 2014 the right way, but I also believe Brendan McCartney was a cancer at our club and Ryan was put in a position he never wanted to be in. Cooney’s recent comments shed a lot of light on the issue.

For better or worse, he’s a big part of our 2016 story, and arguably we don’t win a flag without him doing what he did and instigating massive changes at our club (and bringing Tom Boyd back the other way).

I suspect he’ll be welcomed back to the club as time heals wounds and adds perspective to the position he was put in. The 2016 premiership has already softened a lot of supporters’ views of Griff. Would love to see him on Open Mike and hear his side of the story one day.

Best of luck.
 
He might not have been the most impactful on the field, though 50 games is nothing to sneeze at, but I'd argue that the simple fact that he wanted to come to GWS had a huge impact on the club and also how we were perceived. Previous recruits had been forced out of their club for a variety of reasons, but here was a bloke that was forcing his way out to come to us - all of a sudden we weren't a group of kids and "misfits", we were a destination club to at least some degree. That was a massive deal and I'll always remember Griffen as the guy that helped bring that about.
 
It's a shame people may not remember just how brilliant Griff was in his prime - I'll never forget his performance in a final against Sydney, injured knee but he won the game almost by himself, on one leg with ~40 possessions.

Clearly someone who was a champion but didn't like the limelight or media circus. He'll enjoy the quiet life upon retirement.
 

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Mofra said:
It's a shame people may not remember just how brilliant Griff was in his prime - I'll never forget his performance in a final against Sydney, injured knee but he won the game almost by himself, on one leg with ~40 possessions.

Clearly someone who was a champion but didn't like the limelight or media circus. He'll enjoy the quiet life upon retirement.
Click to expand...

His prelim the year prior was fantastic as well, but Dogs supporters don’t want to think about that one for obvious reasons.
 
Few players get me out of my seat but Griff was one who was a rolls royce in his prime and i loved his powerful and evasive running.

GWS never saw the best of him.

Loved the Griff but he didnt have the emotional tools as captain to deal with our 2014 disaster.
 
Dogs till i die said:
Loved the Griff but he didnt have the emotional tools as captain to deal with our 2014 disaster.
Click to expand...
A few players didn't deal with McCartney very well in 2014, justifiably so what what I hear - I'd love to hear Griff's side of the story one day now that he is free to say what he wants. He's still friends with a lot of his old teammates and if he didn't have the Leon Cameron connection he might not have gone tot he Giants in the first place.
He's not the type to want media exposure though so we may never get to hear it.
 
Gun footballer, wished he played at North. Congrats on your career mate, I'd reckon plenty of football followers have enjoyed watching you play
 
Griffen was a gun. Easily Top 5 player in the league. The delivery and break away speed made him awesome to watch. If there was a way through congestion and a target to hit, he was the only one who could do it.


Then the Dogs employed a coach called McCartney who only had one tactic: 'crack in'. This turned the brilliant burst running and highly skilled Griffen into an inside mid. He wasn't built like a battering ram.

Injuries followed. When he spoke to the powers at be about how bad the coach was, he was ignored.

He quit the dogs to get a new start away from the footy mad media in Melbourne.

His last few years he has dealt with major injuries (probably from being used as a battering ram) and never got back to his game winning self.

Good luck in retirement, RG.


Note: thank you to the mods on the board for allowing us to post here.
 
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I think the best I saw Ryan play live was against us, he had some great games for us along the way but watching him live the game that stands out for me was round 15 2013. We were winless after 14 games and it was looking like we might finally crack one.
Watching it live the only reason we didn't was Griffen, he seemed to be everywhere he needed to be to pick the dogs up and get them over the line.
 
At his best, was in the top handful of midfielders in the game. The shimmy to burn off Ablett as a youngster was bloody glorious. Sadly you guys missed his best, as he was a very gifted player. Still upsets me that he left the way he did, but so be it.
 
He was every Bulldog fan's favourite player and it hurt a lot when he walked out the way he did. Some can't forgive him but his departure directly led to the positive changes at our club that culminated in the flag. Coincidentally, yesterday I watched a vid of one of our games from back in 2012, and I'd forgotten how silky smooth he was, how he knew just where to be and where to go on the field. He dominated the game, beautiful to watch.

Good luck in the future, Griff.
 
Injuries killed him with us but was always putting in 100% and sharing his experience with the younger group.
He was brilliant with the dogs, and was very happy he came to our club and still am despite the setbacks.

Always showed respect to both sets of fans.

Wish him all the best in the future.

PS Well done to both sets of fans, for the most part, being so civil and respectful.

We all know both sets arent very fond of each other.

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk
 
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