Ryan was born and raised at Tweed Heads on the New South Wales North Coast.
Ryan played his junior rugby league in the region before gaining the attention of Canterbury-Bankstown who signed him in 1974.
Ryan made 57 appearances for the club over 4 years with Canterbury regularly making the finals.
Under coach Warren Ryan, Newtown went from strugglers and easy beats of the competition to title contenders and in 1981 made their first grand final in 26 years against Parramatta.
Ryan played at centre in the match as Newtown took a shock lead going into the second half before Parramatta stormed home to win their first premiership 20-10.