There are few – if any – more exciting players in the competition than Liam “Flyin’ Ryan.

If the undermanned Eagles were to win this game against Carlton, Ryan, Jack Darling and Jamie Cripps would need to carry a fair amount of the scoring load and at least one of them would need to dominate.

As it transpired it was Ryan, who gave a sharp reminder of what the game has missed since being sidelined with a leg injury.

He had played a couple of games on return and was building towards full impact, which came at the SCG. He was standing on heads again, a screamer over the top of Liam Stocker will surely be hard to beat for mark of the round, and he kicked four goals.

Importantly, Ryan impacted in the first quarter, ensuring the Eagles received reward for effort and helped to restore confidence, both personally and at a team level from the outset.

Ryan had 17 disposals and nine marks in a match-winning performance.