Drunken crash ends in driving ban for Eagles forward, less than two weeks after AFL glory
Related Story: West Coast forward Liam Ryan charged with drink driving
Less than two weeks after the West Coast Eagles' grand final win, emerging forward Liam Ryan has been fined and disqualified from driving for 18 months over a traffic incident in July.
The premiership forward was charged with drink driving after he drove into a tree in Armadale.
Armadale Magistrates Court has heard that Ryan had a blood alcohol reading of 0.138 in the aftermath of the crash.
Ryan was not required to be in court, and did not attend.
The magistrate said he had correspondence which, while not saying Ryan intended to plead guilty, it was "the flavour" of the letter.
He was ordered to pay a $1700 fine, plus court costs, and was disqualified from driving for 18 months.
Penalty 'fair and reasonable'
In a statement, the Eagles said Ryan entered a guilty plea to a charge of driving with a blood alcohol reading exceeding 0.08.
It said: "Liam takes full responsibility for his actions and both he and the club accept that the penalty is fair and reasonable."
Internal sanctions were imposed on Ryan by the Eagles at the time of the incident.
The club said it would "continue to educate Liam around this matter, always placing his health and wellbeing as the major priority".
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