Royals Revisited: Ryan Turnbull

FORMER East Perth two-time premiership winning ruckman, captain and this year’s Club Match Ball Legend, Ryan Turnbull, says it is the spirit and hardness of Royals co-captain Craig Wulff that should drive the team to premiership success.

Turnbull, now 42, retired from East Perth in 2004, two years into Wulff’s playing career.

“Even at an early age, I was at the twilight of my career and he was at the beginning of his, you could see that he was a player that was hell bent on doing everything for his team and his teammates.

“But, it was his heart and that’s the bit that you admire the most, that he’s got a heart that just bleeds black and blue and it’s because of players like Craig Wulff that you want East Perth to win premierships”, he said.

Turnbull was a member of East Perth’s 2001 and 2002 premiership teams, missing the 2000 Flag as a member of the West Coast Eagles regular playing squad. 

“To play in a premiership, you can’t beat it, it’s the best memories that I have, because you can win individual awards, but that’s on your own, that’s an accolade for yourself. But a premiership is a bond with 18, 22 other people and that’s a bond that you can’t beat,” he said.

“In 2000 when they won I was over the moon for East Perth, I was so proud to be a part of the club, but I wasn’t part of that team and I thought I’d missed my chance, having played a full season at West Coast. It was wonderful for the club to experience, but at the same time a lot of sadness for me, because of lot of those players had the chance to make a mends for the grand final that we lost a few years earlier in 96”.

Turnbull began his WAFL career with Claremont in 1989, but it wasn’t until the end of 1990 season, after he was drafted to West Coast that he asked to be transferred to another WAFL club with more playing opportunities.

“I grew up in the Claremont District, I went to school in the Claremont District as well, so my early involvement, other than supporting Swan Districts because my dad and grandfather played for them, the support coming back from a WAFL club was Claremont, with developments squads and all the rest of it. So, when I finished school and local club football, I had the opportunity to basically either go to Swans under father and son or Claremont because of the zone I was in, so I went to Claremont,” Turnbull said.

Turnbull cited the lack of opportunity available at Claremont to play in league ruck rather than a difference of opinion between Eagles coach, Michael Malthouse, and Claremont coach, Gerard Neesham, about how he was being used in the team as the reason for his departure.

“Towards the end of the 1990 season I declared myself unavailable for selection, I played the rest of the year in Reserves, we won another premiership in Reserves and at the end of that season I was given the opportunity to pick another club and that’s how I got to East Perth. I basically met with every club bar one (West Perth) and after meeting with all of them I decided that East Perth was the best fit,” he said.

“East Perth was a side that was always a hard side, they were a tough side to play against regardless of the calibre of players. They always gave a fierce contest, they were very much a traditional WAFL club and they didn’t have a lot of talls at the time and I thought, I want to go there, because I could see there were opportunities to get back into the league.

“They were just a side that played a brand of football that was better to be with than against to be honest”, he said.

Turnbull’s playing card is impressive, he is a dual Simpson Medalist and won the league’s highest honour, the Sandover Medal, but regards the Premiership as his greatest playing achievement.

“Most definitely, the Simpson Medal is a nice accolade, but really to be part of the team, that works their way through a full season, to win a premiership is the best feeling in the world”, he said.

Although it was the low point of the losing grand final against his former club, that was most difficult for Turnbull to deal with.

“In 1996 we played Claremont in the grand final and just fell short in what probably was one of the best grand finals in modern times and I say that as a losing player, it was an outstanding game of football, certain things could have gone our way that would have saw us have a win, but unfortunately they didn’t,” he said.

In 2014, Turnbull has a regular commentating role with 6IX, covering a WAFL match of the round over the weekend and owns his own marketing company, Turnbull Marketing, that provides local representation and support for international consumer retail brands including, Delonghi, Nespresso and Kenwood in the Western Australian market. However, he still keeps tabs on the Royals and tries to get to an occasional game during the year with his son.

“Where opportunities arise I often try to and get down and I’ll take my young boy and we’ll sit on the hill and watch the game, so I still try to catch as many games as I can during the year because the WAFL is a good place to take young boys. Jack’s only nine so they can get out on the oval, have a kick, run around and see some pretty good football.

“You just can’t do it in the AFL, to expect to take kids and get them to sit down for two plus hours is pretty hard, whereas at least WAFL, every quarter they can run on the oval, have a kick on the banks. It brings back memories of my childhood, going to the football with my parents”, he said.

“I think East Perth can win it this year, they’ve got pretty much the best coach in the WAFL, Brian Dawson, and his track record is incredible. You’ve just got to look at what he did at Swan Districts in the few years he was there and now East Perth. So, I think they’ve got the right coach and coaching staff and when you look at the players, there is a nucleus of East Perth players that aren’t aligned with the Eagles that will give them great balance and there is some good kids coming through and the AFL players will assist with that”.

“But, it just goes to show that you can’t rely on them, on the weekend East Perth got touched up, so I think they can make amends for last year but I don’t think it’s going to be a walk in the park”, he said.