The Front Rower
Matt “Bubba” Ryan
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- Matt “Bubba” Ryan
Matt Ryan was tight head /loose head prop for the Queensland Reds and the Wallabies. He played 47 games for the Reds and went on 3 tours with the Wallabies in an era when Queensland were Super 10 Champions and the Wallabies were World Champions.. He played with rugby legends including Jason Little, Tim Horan and all the champions of the 90′s. Matt Ryan was schooled at St Joseph’s College in Sydney’s Hunters Hill which has produced over 50 Wallabies. Despite that GPS education he is far from a toffie. His direct, honest and at times brutal delivery of facts makes him one of the great but unheralded rugby analysts. His often critical summations have won him no friends in the cummerbund crowd. Had he been an All Black he would be admired for his ‘we must acknowledge us before we can fix us’ attitude. Since 2001 Global Rugby Scores have monitored his prediction rate on Wallaby games and he is at amazing 94%, the next closest of the ‘experts’ monitored is below 65%. Bubba Ryan, so named because of his 110 KG engine room frame closely resembling that of Shrek, looks that saw him achieve runner up in the World’s ugliest man contest, is a tireless supporter of the misfortunate and underprivileged. His support to eastern Indonesian Rugby teams from Bali and the touring Papua Kotekas is an example of his selfless concern for rugby for rugby’s sake. Matt Ryan previously coached the Singapore National Team (2004 – 2006) and led them to the Asian Division 2 Championship in 2004 and their highest ever World Ranking of 42. He also coached Penrith First Grade in 2001 and 2002. Matt was the General Manager of Manly RFC in 2003. He was a development officer at Queensland Rugby, he is an ARU Internationally Qualified Level 3 coach. Matt Ryan currently works in Juvenile Justice in Sydney. Matt is married to a Fijian, Maria Ryan, loves thirty egg ommelettes and letting Nancy forwards know that they are not the real macoy. Bubba was an Australian schoolboy playing alongside 7 other future Wallabies in the 1984-1985 undefeated teams. He played 13 Tour games for the Wallabies on the 1990 New Zealand Tour, 1992 South African Tour and 1992 Ireland/Wales Tour. Bubba was held back from a more extended career by his passion for beer and rum, a passion which he gave away 18 years ago only to be replaced by his addiction to Kava the national drink of Fiji.
Richard “Tombsy” Tombs
Richard “Tombsy” Tombs was a hard hitting robust centre. He played with the Waratahs, Reds and Wallabies. Even though he gravitated to the southern Sydney based enemy south of the World Line between New South Wales and Queensland an was born in New Zealand he is actually a good bloke. He finished his domestic career with the Waratahs as the 2ndmost capped Waratah of that time in 1997 with 72 caps. Had he played now for 10 years with Super Rugby he would have played 130 games given his propensity to avoid major injury. Amazingly he then played 3 seasons with Gloucester playing over eighty 1st division matches in the UK. He played test matches against Scotland, Ireland, Italy and also the fellows across the ditch, what was their name again, “the All Black’s” or something like that? He toured with the Wallabies in 88, 92 and 96 to the UK, 91 for the World Cup victory, and to South Africa and New Zealand in 1992. He was an Australian Schoolboys representative in 1985 and 1986 and with the Australian U21’s in 87/88 and 89. His final 1st grade match was for the Waratahs against the Lions in 2001 having been called up from the Sydney Grade competition. He also tried his hand at coaching with stint at Northern Suburbs for 3 seasons. As expected of many Backs their feminine side always comes out, ‘Hard Man Tombsy’ has taken up playing Soccer on the Northern Beaches of Sydney in the Over 35′s competition and was recently heard saying “what a fantastic game it is”. Tombsy is married to Carissa and they have three daughters (we rest our case). He also loves the beach and netball
Paul “Quagz” Quaglia
Paul Quaglia played rugby with GPS in Brisbane, the Australian Artillery, Duntroon and was a founding member and President of Brisbane Irish Rugby and the Papuan Kotekas. Paul played with the Papuan Kotekas from 1997 until 2009 playing his last game at the age of 43, he played every position on the Rugby Field except for 2nd row having to give that away after he couldn’t achieve sufficient stretch from “the rack”. Paul also founded the men and Womens Papuan Menagas Rugby and was a founding member of both Indonesian Rugby Union and Indonesian Rugby league. He does significant pro bono work for Papuan Rugby. Paul also was a representative level freestyle wrestler, soccer player and middle distance runner. Paul is a long term resident of Asia and offers insightful questions in interviews with our panelists and a bipartisan element to the analysis. He has lived in Indonesia, Singapore, Papua, and Thailand. He is a Regional Security Advisor and travels more than most pilots. He loves Bubba Ryan’s 30 egg ommelettes and vehemently disagrees with diets and too much exercize.
