There was both pleasure and pain for Liam Ryan in his first game against the club he won a premiership with.

The Eagle-turned-Saint suffered a brutal injury blow after a clash with Reuben Ginbey, but ultimately walked away smiling after booting three majors in his team’s 101-point smashing.

Ryan was leading up to the wing for an attempted mark on the lead during the second term of Sunday’s clash against West Coast, but ran into Ginbey, who had been looking to go back with the flight.

The Saints forward was in immediate pain after Ginbey’s knee made contact with what appeared to be his hip. He was helped from the ground, with the Eagles defender showing great care to wander over and offer a pat and well wishes for his former teammate.

Encouragingly, Ryan returned late in the second term after going down to the rooms for treatment, though he appeared sore at times.

It came after Ryan had a dream start to his match-up against the club he departed last off-season. The 29-year-old produced the game’s opening goal after a crumb at the top of the goalsquare, and could have added a second had a set-shot attempt not drifted astray.

He ultimately kicked truly for his second major from a tricky angle in the third term, producing a ‘Spider-Man’ celebration, and added a third from a free kick moments later.

The result saw Ryan continue a remarkable streak of every West Coast premiership player beating their old side in their first meeting this century, with 11 instances since 2000.