Former Leeds Rhinos coach Dan Ryan says returning to Manchester Thunder and being appointed Northern Ireland head coach kept his “coaching career alive”.

Ryan rejoined Thunder after a difficult spell with 27 straight losses in charge of Adelaide Thunderbirds in 2019. The Australian was originally appointed head coach of Thunder in 2015 before he left to return to Australia before going back to Thunder as an assistant coach working alongside Karen Greig during Thunder’s title-winning season of 2019.

Reflecting on his return to Thunder, Ryan told the Sky Sports Netball Off The Court podcast that the move and being appointed head coach of Northern Ireland in 2018 kept his “coaching career alive”.

“I went back to Australia and had those really tough years at Thunderbirds but learnt a lot from it but was at a real cross-roads in my career wondering where is my next job going to come from and if this is what my very last experience, who wants to employ a coach who’s just lost 27 games in a row.

“I was so lucky and thankful that Manchester Thunder reached out and I got the Northern Ireland job too which I think was a bit of a career saver for me.

“When I was there [Manchester Thunder] in 2016 Greigy was my assistant. We had a social connection before we worked together. Greigy had been the assistant coach at Thunder for a while and Sara Hale was there as well and the three of us worked really well together – we just had a great time coaching together and seeing the team evolve and bring in some of that Australian standard and work ethic to the club which was also good to see.

“I’m very grateful to Manchester Thunder and Northern Ireland for keeping my coaching career alive because I’m not sure where I would be if they hadn’t put out the olive branch.”

Ryan also coached Loughborough Lightning star Rhea Dixon in 2021 during his three-year spell at Leeds Rhinos where she made 20 appearances and achieved a career high of 194 goals for the club. Lightning are currently second in the Netball Superleague with Manchester Thunder only leading due to their superior goal-scoring record this season.

Dixon starred in a 64-56 victory against her former side on the weekend and after the game she recalled working with Ryan at the Rhinos.

“For me, working under Dan was huge, it was a big turning point in realising what my strengths were as a player.” Dixon said.

“He brought an intensity and a dynamism to my game and just instilled a lot of belief in what my strengths are and I think that’s really important in a coach.”

Ryan believes a personable relationship with players is an integral part of coaching and takes pride in creating the best possible environment for his players to flourish.

“Rhea was a great example of a player that had great talent and just always struggled every now and then with confidence,” Ryan said.

“I’ve made a lot of effort to get her to see herself how I saw her and just building confidence in her. It happened but by bit.

“She was a training partner with us in that first year at Rhinos and then became our starting goal attack because she just grew legs and became a really great foil for us.

“Rhea and I got along like a house on fire off the court but when it was go time at training, she just wanted direct feedback, she wanted to be told how to get better.

“I also made a real conscious effort with Rhea to pat herself on the back when she did something great because she was always so keen to move on to the next thing or dwell on the negative and seeing that shift in players is something that I love to see.”

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