Somehow he comes back faster and fitter each time.
I think heās genuine in that, and itās very much part of his charm. And as you pointed out, the loyalty bonuses help us remain competitive for him within the cap. But his current level of performance is so consistently top drawer that the amounts of money he could be able to command may make it difficult to hold out.
Heās not just a guy with a good engine now. His decision making is becoming better and better, and his technique has come along hugely since his last injury. You can tell that from years of playing with your Miloses of this world has taught him not to waste waste possession or energy on pure speculation. Thereās so much end effort in every run, every pass.
Seems It was the club who upgraded his ticket home which is a solid move from themā¦
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Another Fox Sports News website article on Rhyan.
Ask any A-League fan what was the standout individual performance of the weekend, and youāll probably get a variety of answers.
Jamie Maclarenās hat-trick? Roy OāDonovanās treble? Glen Mossās heroics between the sticks for Newcastle?
All put in terrific performances, of that there is no doubt. But what about the almost superhuman feats of Rhyan Grant?
The Sydney FC defender played ninety minutes in the Big Blue win over Melbourne Victory, contributing an assist for Kosta Barbarousesās winner, just sixty hours after he played a full game for the national team against Jordan in Amman.
That Grant spent the best part of twenty of those hours travelling back to Australia through nine time zones makes his feats of endurance all the more remarkable.
You might think that up against such barriers, Grants output would have suffered against Victory. But Sydney FCās official stats show that he ran a total distance of 11 kilometres, which can be extended to 13.5 kilometres if you include the rigorous warm-up he and his teammates go through every week.
Those numbers compare favourably to earlier season games when he got through 10.5 kilometres against Western Sydney Wanderers and Wellington Phoenix - and to the Socceroos game in Jordan, where he covered 9.5 kilometres.
Distance covered is, however, but one of the āmetricsā upon which clubs place immense value.
Perhaps of more worth to clubs like Sydney - especially in the system they play - is the āhigh speedā metres covered, along with sprints or āmeaningful accelerationā.
In this category, Grant was again consistent. In the āhigh speedā stakes, he covered 970 metres against Victory and 560 metres in the Socceroos win in Amman. He got through 70 sprints against Victory, compared to 74 in Jordan, and a whopping 86 in Sydneyās previous win over Newcastle, where he was substituted early.
Grants machine-like levels of fitness are key for the reigning champions, because itās the full-backs that are put under the pump the most in Steve Coricaās team.
Stats show that while midfielders such as Milos Ninkovic (12.1 kilometres against Victory), and Brandon OāNeill (13 kilometres) covered more ground, and the strikers (Barbarouses, Le Fondre) put in the most sprints, itās Grant and Paulo Retre who accumulated the most work overall, through relentless movement up and down the flanks.
Credit must go too, to the Sydney FC (and Socceroos) medical staff, whose attention to detail gives players like Grant the best possible chance of putting in a good shift. Elias Boukarim (Sydney physio) and Andrew Clark (Socceroos) worked in tandem to put together a program for Grant, to ensure maximum recovery in double-quick time.
Plane travel is the biggest problem. It creates what is known as ācentral fatigueā with a long flight akin to a training session that is six or seven on the intensity scale. It fatigues the nervous system which is responsible for all the bodyās main motor outputs.
Therefore, upon his arrival back in Sydney, Grant was sent almost immediately to the ocean for a twenty minute swim in cold water to āwakeā his system back up. Bringing him in to the training base was seen as being counter productive, as it would have extended his travel time by car.
He also had a protocol to follow to counter jet lag. This included preventing sleep until at least 9pm the following day, keeping conditions during the day light and between a temperature of 19 and 21 degrees to help the body stay awake, with a little caffeine stimulation if needed.
Then at night, mobile light and use of electronic stimulants like mobile phones were kept to a minimum, to aid sleep.
The end results were there for everyone to see on Sunday - although itās not about to get any easier, as Sydney make their longest A-League trip this weekend, to face Perth in WA.
Itās probably the last trip Rhyan Grant needs after such a busy schedule, but donāt bet against him clocking up impressive numbers once again - itās why he is such an important player for Sydney, and increasingly, for the Socceroos.
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Straight off a 20 hour flight from Jordanā¦ ānah, donāt come in to work mate, go for a dip at Bondi, itās scienceā.
No wonder heās happy as a pig in shit with us. 
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I sure hope heās getting the wages he deserves, heās well worth whatever heās asking in my book. Absolute legend, genuinely nice guy, got the cult status with the hair, and one of the best players in the national league ATM.
Heās been great for a while, but I feel like heās hitting even new heights this season. Absolute hero.
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I feel like this season he has come to terms with the fact that heās actually really, really good and is just embracing it.
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Branners reaction is brilliant.
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What a guy, apparently the King Cobra put him up to it.
Somewhat related, Nicolai Muller appears to have recently visited Jason Davidsonās hairdresser.
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Surely one of these fits in somewhere. Maybe his RSVP profile picture?
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with that weird haircut? You gotta be dreamingā¦
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This is probably a long shot, but does anyone remember ā or want to spend a rainy morning trying to find out ā why Rhyan Grant was listed as suspended for 2 weeks in January 2010?
Hereās the best timeline I can come up with:
27 Dec 2009: NYL match vs Adelaide. Grant scored and was apparently sent off shortly after for a second yellow. Strangely this red card was not recorded in the Round 17 review.
3 Jan 2010: NYL match vs Gold Coast. Grant did not appear.
8 Jan 2010: Listed as suspended for 2 matches.
9 Jan 2010: NYL match vs Perth. Grant did not appear.
10 Jan 2010: A-League match vs Perth. Grant did not appear (not surprising).
15 Jan 2010: Grant remains āunavailableā for the Round 23 A-League match vs Gold Coast, listed as suspended for 1 match.
16 Jan 2010: NYL match vs Gold Coast. Grant did not appear.
17 Jan 2010: A-League match vs Gold Coast. Grant came off the bench in the 85th minute.
Iāve found reference to the suspension in news articles around the time (Colosimo was suspended for the first week as well), but nothing about its length. The only thing I can think is that it was a 3 game suspension (strange for a 2 YC booking), taken on 3 Jan, 9/10 Jan and then either reduced down to two matches or they allowed the 16 Jan NYL game to be the third match and he was free for the A-League game the next dayā¦?
Iāve done some googling and canāt find anything extra to help you, however you may be able to rule out a reduction in suspension because if that were the case youād be able to see it on the tribunal decisions archive on the FFA website here.
I wonder if there is an error in the match report you linked and it went something like this: Grant received a yellow card earlier in the match. This tipped him over into accumulation, meaning he had to serve a one match ban. Then later he received a straight red rather than a second yellow, meaning that he also had a one match suspension for that. That would account for why he has a two match suspension. Admittedly thatās just a theory and still wouldnāt fit all of the evidence.
Now the problem becomes if NYL red cards carry over to seniors; that would seem weird to me but who knows?
Best place to find it might be the SFCU archive, would probably have been covered in the match threads from the time.
Nudge, nudge, wink, wink Jubal. 
Nice one, I wasnāt aware of this. The Santalab vs Abbas one is interestingā¦
Yeah I thought about something like that, but heād only received one yellow card in an A-League match prior to that point, and none in the NYL (even if those records arenāt perfect, heād only appeared in NYL twice before the match in question). And surely the 3rd Jan would count as the first match in any case, leaving only one by 9/10 Jan.
The old A-League disciplinary rules document that I have doesnāt say it, but as far as I can tell, they did. Mitchell Prentice got a red card as an overage player in an NYL match that season and was also listed as suspended for the next A-League match (shortly before he was offloaded).
Ah yes, good point ā no idea how easy a particular thread would be to findā¦ @jubal1 ?
Call me crazy, butā¦ couldnāt you just tweet @RhyanGrant and ask him?
Iāve heard heās pretty friendly
(Seriously though, surely he would remember if it was something like a straight red that could explain this)
For those playing along at home, the great man replied and while he didnāt remember much he confirmed it was probably something from Youth League, which is pretty much all I was after (although I would still be interested if anyone else somehow finds out moreā¦)
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