THE Ryan twins - Shaun and Patrick - took different sporting pathways.
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Shaun will retire at the end of the AFL season after a decorated career as a central umpire.
Patrick is a leading Warrnambool horse trainer.
The brothers, now 45, umpired one season together as teenagers before taking different routes.
"We played football for South Warrnambool as juniors and then we both umpired for a year and he continued when we went off to university and I just did running, I ran for five years in Ballarat with a club there," Patrick said.
Shaun has gone on to umpire eight grand finals and will strive for a ninth before hanging up the whistle next month.
Patrick can remember one year being particularly special for the Ryan family, which consists seven siblings.
"I think 2008 when I won the Warrnambool Cup that might have been the year he got his first grand final so that was probably a good year for us both," he said.
Patrick, who has a dozen horses in work, said they "catch up when we can and give each other advice on each other's professions, as brothers do".
But football is rarely a hot topic.
"I don't really follow football at all. I wouldn't know much about it," he said.
"We talk more about the racing than the football. I follow when he's doing grand finals.
"I have only ever seen one game (live) which was a grand final - Richmond versus Adelaide."
Shaun's achievements in his chosen sporting field though have not come as a surprise.
"I thought he was pretty determined in whatever he did so he would get to decent heights," Patrick said.
"His record would suggest he's been very successful at it and probably deserves a break now.
"It is a good testament to his wife and family too to hold down the fort because he has a lot on his plate."
Shaun has umpired 346 matches and has a chance to reach the 350-game milestone before his career is out.
The AFL will wrap up its 17-round coronavirus-impacted season on Monday night before a pre-finals bye.
The four-week final series will conclude with a grand final at the Gabba in Brisbane on October 24.
Justine McCullagh-Beasy
Sports journalist with an interest in feature reporting. Email: justine.mc@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Sports journalist with an interest in feature reporting. Email: justine.mc@austcommunitymedia.com.au
