G
Guest
Guest
Serious side of funnyman Beau Ryan
* Andrew Webster
* From: The Daily Telegraph
* June 25, 2010 12:00AM
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IS THERE anything Beau Ryan doesn't know? He has his own segment on The Footy Show called "Beau Knows", so you would be forgiven for thinking there isn't.
But you would be wrong.
"I don't know women's clothes," he deadpans.
"I think jeans and a shirt is fine - but my girlfriend says it's not."
What Beau Ryan does know is this: he's a footballer first, emerging television personality second.
"I want to be known as Beau Ryan the footballer who does a little bit on the side to make people laugh," the Wests Tigers wingman tells Footy Central.
"I want people to be talking about how I play - not how funny I am. That's a bonus.
"I'm a rugby league player. I'm not going to throw it away by making people laugh. If it was affecting my football, I'd pull the plug straight away."
These are rare serious words that are interesting to hear because Ryan has grown this year - on both the box and the field.
Last Sunday, he produced that subtle kick-through to score the try that sealed the deal for the Tigers against the Raiders at Leichhardt Oval.
Yet there he was last Wednesday afternoon, at Lake View Park on Sydney's Northern Beaches, pretending to be Manly coach Des Hasler ripping off doors and cracking up the assembled ankle-biters from the Narrabeen Sharks junior footy club.
This season he has jumped into the filth of Sydney Harbour and soaped up, much to the delight of Japanese tourists. He has chewed a mouthful of Surf washing powder. He's approached police officers and asked if they are really strippers, a reference to the Kim Hollingsworth character in Underbelly.
As for players from other clubs, they love him. When they hear Ryan will be doing his "Beau Knows" segment at their training session, they will turn up, just for the laugh.
"He has no fear," says The Footy Show producer James Rochford. "I can tell him anything and he will do it. When he first started, he was a bit nervous but he's improved out of sight. He's a genuine television talent."
It's for this reason that Channel 9 and Ryan's wise old manager, Wayne Beavis, are negotiating a new deal as we speak to secure him to the network beyond this season.
While Ryan remains steadfast in his belief that he has a long career ahead, when his playing contract expires at the end of 2012 you sense he might have some hard decisions to make about his future.
You just know that Beau is born for television.
"I love my role - within The Footy Show and within my footy team," he says. "It's a perfect balance. I'm not sure if a bigger workload would affect me. [But] if Channel 9 wanted to extend me or give me a different role, I'd have to have a look at it."
To know why Beau does not want to let go of his football dream is to learn how close he went to not living it.
There's a touch of irony about the Tigers playing St George Illawarra at WIN Jubilee Oval tonight.
After winning a premiership with the Dragons' Jersey Flegg side in 2005, the club didn't fall over itself to sign up Ryan. He was working as a courier, helping out as a brickies labourer with his father's mate here and there.
When the Tigers came sniffing ahead of the 2007 season, he had to choose which path to walk down.
"My manager back then said, 'It can go two ways: try to have a crack or stay where I was as a courier'," Ryan says. "I had to choose between a full-time job or footy.
"All my mates were tradies - carpenters and bricklayers - so I thought I could have a crack. I had to work for seven years, and it makes you appreciate this more.
"There's not a day goes by where I don't feel good about what I do. Some days, I can be getting a massage on my calves and I think I could be lugging bricks or carrying frames around worksites."
Now he divides his time between playing wherever needed in the back three for the Tigers, and his afternoon of lunacy for The Footy Show.
His coach, Tim Sheens, has long told his players to find something meaningful to do on their down time. Something to occupy their minds so they don't think about footy - which is ironic coming from Sheens, given his obsession with the game.
"Yeah, practise what you preach, eh?" Ryan grins. "Tim is about switching on and off and when you're not in football you can do what you want. Whatever you can do to get away from football, because if you are doing it 24-7 it can do your head in."
Like munching on a mouthful of washing powder that "felt like there were 500 bull ants in my mouth and made everything taste like toothpaste for the next two days."
Or being harangued by passers-by in the street.
"Whenever we're on the street, there's always someone a bit different who comes up and gets in your face," he says. "But when the camera comes on, they go to water."
Unlike Beau, who knows precisely what to do.
* Andrew Webster
* From: The Daily Telegraph
* June 25, 2010 12:00AM
\
\
IS THERE anything Beau Ryan doesn't know? He has his own segment on The Footy Show called "Beau Knows", so you would be forgiven for thinking there isn't.
But you would be wrong.
"I don't know women's clothes," he deadpans.
"I think jeans and a shirt is fine - but my girlfriend says it's not."
What Beau Ryan does know is this: he's a footballer first, emerging television personality second.
"I want to be known as Beau Ryan the footballer who does a little bit on the side to make people laugh," the Wests Tigers wingman tells Footy Central.
"I want people to be talking about how I play - not how funny I am. That's a bonus.
"I'm a rugby league player. I'm not going to throw it away by making people laugh. If it was affecting my football, I'd pull the plug straight away."
These are rare serious words that are interesting to hear because Ryan has grown this year - on both the box and the field.
Last Sunday, he produced that subtle kick-through to score the try that sealed the deal for the Tigers against the Raiders at Leichhardt Oval.
Yet there he was last Wednesday afternoon, at Lake View Park on Sydney's Northern Beaches, pretending to be Manly coach Des Hasler ripping off doors and cracking up the assembled ankle-biters from the Narrabeen Sharks junior footy club.
This season he has jumped into the filth of Sydney Harbour and soaped up, much to the delight of Japanese tourists. He has chewed a mouthful of Surf washing powder. He's approached police officers and asked if they are really strippers, a reference to the Kim Hollingsworth character in Underbelly.
As for players from other clubs, they love him. When they hear Ryan will be doing his "Beau Knows" segment at their training session, they will turn up, just for the laugh.
"He has no fear," says The Footy Show producer James Rochford. "I can tell him anything and he will do it. When he first started, he was a bit nervous but he's improved out of sight. He's a genuine television talent."
It's for this reason that Channel 9 and Ryan's wise old manager, Wayne Beavis, are negotiating a new deal as we speak to secure him to the network beyond this season.
While Ryan remains steadfast in his belief that he has a long career ahead, when his playing contract expires at the end of 2012 you sense he might have some hard decisions to make about his future.
You just know that Beau is born for television.
"I love my role - within The Footy Show and within my footy team," he says. "It's a perfect balance. I'm not sure if a bigger workload would affect me. [But] if Channel 9 wanted to extend me or give me a different role, I'd have to have a look at it."
To know why Beau does not want to let go of his football dream is to learn how close he went to not living it.
There's a touch of irony about the Tigers playing St George Illawarra at WIN Jubilee Oval tonight.
After winning a premiership with the Dragons' Jersey Flegg side in 2005, the club didn't fall over itself to sign up Ryan. He was working as a courier, helping out as a brickies labourer with his father's mate here and there.
When the Tigers came sniffing ahead of the 2007 season, he had to choose which path to walk down.
"My manager back then said, 'It can go two ways: try to have a crack or stay where I was as a courier'," Ryan says. "I had to choose between a full-time job or footy.
"All my mates were tradies - carpenters and bricklayers - so I thought I could have a crack. I had to work for seven years, and it makes you appreciate this more.
"There's not a day goes by where I don't feel good about what I do. Some days, I can be getting a massage on my calves and I think I could be lugging bricks or carrying frames around worksites."
Now he divides his time between playing wherever needed in the back three for the Tigers, and his afternoon of lunacy for The Footy Show.
His coach, Tim Sheens, has long told his players to find something meaningful to do on their down time. Something to occupy their minds so they don't think about footy - which is ironic coming from Sheens, given his obsession with the game.
"Yeah, practise what you preach, eh?" Ryan grins. "Tim is about switching on and off and when you're not in football you can do what you want. Whatever you can do to get away from football, because if you are doing it 24-7 it can do your head in."
Like munching on a mouthful of washing powder that "felt like there were 500 bull ants in my mouth and made everything taste like toothpaste for the next two days."
Or being harangued by passers-by in the street.
"Whenever we're on the street, there's always someone a bit different who comes up and gets in your face," he says. "But when the camera comes on, they go to water."
Unlike Beau, who knows precisely what to do.
