Ryan Girdler

I’warra junior joined the Panthers in 1993 with the goal of cementing a first grade position as a centre. Girdler’s first two seasons were curtailed by a knee ligament injury and operations on both groins and he seriously considered returning to the I’warra local competition until new coach Royce Simmons talked him into staying with the Panthers. Girdler quickly gained a reputation as a strong attacking left centre, a confident defender and exceptionally gifted goal-kicker. His form brought him into the Super League ANZac Test where he kicked five goals in Australia’s 34-22 win. Despite missing NSW’s win in the final of the Tri-Series competition because of injury, he played an important role in Penrith’s Super League semi-final campaign. The leading point-scorer in 1997’s Super League season (197pts, which also broke clubman Greg Alexander’s point-scoring record for a season) Girdler represented Super League Australia against NZ in September before touring Great Britain. His solid form and confident goal kicking saw him play in two Tests but despite continued praise from his club coach he was not able to break into rep football in the reunified 1998 season. Girdler was at the forefront of the club’s good early form in 1999, representing NSW in three matches and making his Test debut as a reserve in Australia’s Tri-series wins over Great Britain and NZ in October. (The Penrith centre originally missed selection but was a late addition after forward Brad Thorn was ruled out). Girdler proved to be international class centre – and an ‘intercept king’ - when he crossed for a try in Australia’s 52-0 thrashing of NZ in the 2000 ANZac Test and scored tries in all three of NSW’s State of Origin wins. In the final match of the series, the 56-16 thrashing of Queensland, Girdler equalled the great Dally Messenger when he scored 32pts (3t, 10g). It was a record-breaking year for the popular Penrith Test star – he scored most points in a State of Origin series (52pts – 5t, 16g including most tries in a series and most goals in a match), eclipsed his own club point-scoring record and posted an imposing 46pts (3t, 17g) in Australia’s 110-4 win over Russia in the World Cup. Unfortunately, a shoulder injury kept Girdler out of Australia’s World Cup final team, but worse was to follow in 2001. Despite playing for NSW (2 matches in which he scored all his team’s points in the 40-14 loss in the series decider) and for Australia against NZ, Penrith’s slump to the bottom of the premiership table ultimately cost him his spot on the Kangaroo Tour (even his faultless goal-kicking deserted him, landing just 48g in 2001). Returning from a potentially life-threatening sternum injury in 2003, he took his place in Penrith’s grand final-winning team before gaining a place in the Kangaroo Tour at year’s end. However, Girdler re-injured a troublesome hamstring on the tour and did not add to his Test appearances. After another injury-ridden year in 2004 (ironically, he re-injured his hamstring in scoring an intercept try against the Bulldogs that equalled Greg Alexander’s club record of 101t), Girdler retired when the Panthers lost the preliminary final.

Career Statistics

All statistics shown in this section are based only on data available in the RLP database, and are not necessarily a complete and/or 100% accurate representation of a player's career. This information should be used as a guide only. If you see a question mark (?), it denotes that the figure is not available.

To view a list of corresponding matches, click on the icon.

International
Test Matches - By Team
Team	Years	App	T	G			GK %	FG	Pts	W	L	D	Win %
Australia (SL)	1997	4	-	16				-	32	3	1	0	75.00%
Australia	1999-01	10	8	24				-	80	10	0	0	100.00%
Overall	1997-2001	14	8	40				0	112	13	1	0	92.86%
International Matches - By Team
Team	Years	App	T	G			GK %	FG	Pts	W	L	D	Win %
Australia	1999-2003	1	1	-				-	4	1	0	0	100.00%
Overall	2003	1	1	0				0	4	1	0	0	100.00%
World Cup Matches - By Team
Team	Years	App	T	G			GK %	FG	Pts	W	L	D	Win %
Australia	1999-2000	5	6	18				-	60	5	0	0	100.00%
Overall	2000	5	6	18				0	60	5	0	0	100.00%
Representative
Australia - By Team
Team	Years	App	T	G			GK %	FG	Pts	W	L	D	Win %
New South Wales (SL)	1997	2	-	7				-	14	2	0	0	100.00%
New South Wales	1999-01	8	7	27				-	82	5	2	1	62.50%
Overall	1997-2001	10	7	34				0	96	7	2	1	70.00%
Club Career
Australian League Matches - By Year
Team	Years	App	T	G			GK %	FG	Pts	W	L	D	Win %
Illawarra	NSWRL 1991	1	-	-				-	-	1	0	0	100.00%
Illawarra	NSWRL 1992	22	8	43	/	66	65.15%	-	118	13	8	1	59.09%
Penrith	NSWRL 1993	16	8	8	/	15	53.33%	-	48	6	10	0	37.50%
Penrith	NSWRL 1994	11	3	1	/	5	20.00%	-	14	5	4	2	45.45%
Penrith	ARL 1995	19	10	55	/	86	63.95%	-	150	8	11	0	42.11%
Penrith	ARL 1996	20	8	65	/	86	75.58%	-	162	7	12	1	35.00%
Penrith	Super League 1997	19	11	76	/	82	92.68%	1	197	9	10	0	47.37%
Penrith	NRL 1998	13	11	45	/	58	77.59%	-	134	3	10	0	23.08%
Penrith	NRL 1999	21	18	77	/	102	75.49%	3	229	11	9	1	52.38%
Penrith	NRL 2000	24	13	78	/	108	72.22%	2	210	11	13	0	45.83%
Penrith	NRL 2001	19	7	48	/	78	61.54%	-	124	4	15	0	21.05%
Penrith	NRL 2002	14	6	38	/	59	64.41%	-	100	3	11	0	21.43%
Penrith	NRL 2003	16	4	44	/	67	65.67%	-	104	12	4	0	75.00%
Penrith	NRL 2004	12	2	46	/	57	80.70%	-	100	9	3	0	75.00%
Overall	1991-2004	227	109	624	/	869	71.81%	6	1,690	102	120	5	44.93%
Australian League Matches - By Team
Team	Years	App	T	G			GK %	FG	Pts	W	L	D	Win %
Illawarra	1991-92	23	8	43	/	66	65.15%	-	118	14	8	1	60.87%
Penrith	1993-04	204	101	581	/	803	72.35%	6	1572	88	112	4	43.14%
Overall	1991-2004	227	109	624	/	869	71.81%	6	1,690	102	120	5	44.93%
Australian Finals Matches - By Team
Team	Years	App	T	G			GK %	FG	Pts	W	L	D	Win %
Illawarra	1991-1992	2	-	-				-	-	1	1	0	50.00%
Penrith	1993-2004	9	3	27				1	67	5	4	0	55.56%
Overall	1992-2004	11	3	27				1	67	6	5	0	54.55%

Last modified: Thu, 26 Nov 2020 15:48:01 +1100 (Sydney time)