Knick knack it’s Paddy well back

PADDY Ryder thought he might have lost it.

Now he’s the All-Australian ruckman.

The Port Adelaide tall watched on last season as his Power teammates recorded a 10-12 season to finish 10th on the ladder and missed finals.

Having been at Essendon during 2012, he was serving a doping ban – not permitted to be at the club’s Alberton base in any capacity.

He famously went to the club as the clock hit midnight to signal the end of his ban.

But all that felt like a lifetime ago for the Power ruck last night, who was rewarded for his return to football in his returning season, winning his first All-Australian berth.

And he admitted he thought he would never return to the top of his game.

“Early days, when you get back into it you find that you don’t have the match fitness and you’ve got to try and get back up to speed with AFL football,” Ryder said.

“There were times where I thought it mightn’t come back to me, but I just kept working hard at it and I was able to hit some form.”

But the real cherry on top in his return to football is that finals loom, with Ryder saying he “definitely” has another month of ruckwork left in him.

“This is the most exciting part about it, to be able to come out and play some finals football,” he said.

A “humbled” Ryder credited his hunger for the game for sparking his form. “[I’m] really proud,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of help and support over the past couple of years and I came out this year and played really hungry football, and really want to have a lot of success going forward.”