Ryno’s revolution: How Harris has SA ‘hunting’ for history

“We want to be a great team, and winning one is not a great team.”

Those are the words of South Australia coach Ryan Harris, who is eyeing consecutive Sheffield Shield titles with a state that has never achieved that feat.

A former SA player, Harris did not win a domestic title during his seven-year playing stint with the men in red.

And between his move to Queensland in 2008 to his appointment as South Australia head coach in 2024, the state claimed just one trophy – the 2011-12 One-Day Cup title. 

During that period, every other state won the Shield at least twice, while Tasmania were the only other outfit to register just a sole One-Day Cup crown.

And in the years leading up to their breakthrough title, SA weren’t just struggling to win finals – they were perennial cellar dwellers, collecting seven wooden spoons from the 2017-18 summer to the start of last season across both state-based domestic competitions.

It was in Harris’ first season upon returning to SA that the team claimed the last of those wooden spoons. Coming back to Adelaide Oval originally as an assistant coach, he did not initially see success.

After he was named as Jason Gillespie’s successor as head coach in the lead-up to the 2024-25 season, the tide turned, and it turned instantly.

South Australia’s drought-breaking season didn’t only produce two titles in two competitions, but it showcased how much cricket means to a state previously starved of success.

“I said to the players, ‘you wait and see how big it’ll be, it’s a massive deal’,” Harris said.

“I was upstairs here (at Karen Rolton Oval) and I popped my head around the corner when the guys were getting the trophy. As they came around the corner and saw the crowd, a few of us sort of went, ‘wow, this is amazing’.

“I don’t think they actually realised what it meant for the state to win that Shield back, so for them seeing that was quite special. 

“When you win something like this you remember that team and that squad who you were with and they’re mates for life. They want to keep doing it over and over again.”

Having completed the domestic double – an achievement never before accomplished in the state’s history – Harris’s first campaign as a head coach was seemingly seamless.

In his first formal address as full-time coach, Harris took his group to the centre of Adelaide Oval, and said: ‘This is where we want to be for the season’s last game’.

While they didn’t have the opportunity to win the silverware at that iconic location, due to the Australian Football League’s refusal to allow the Shield final to be held at the venue, the message was evidently well received.

Fast forward to the pre-season of 2025-26, and although there was no signature speech from Harris for his players, there remains a constant theme the head coach has been preaching all season long.

“We’re still hunting,” Harris said. “That’s exactly what I say to them. I’ve said it to them a number of times. We say it in all our training programs. Last year was very special, no doubt … but they also know it took a long time to do that.

“I think we are a very good team and a very good squad, but to be a great team we’ve got to make sure we keep doing it and keep challenging. If we’re not winning, we’re at least coming second.”

Although Harris’s decision back in 2008 to leave South Australia for Queensland was pivotal in his ascendancy to becoming one of Australia’s best fast bowlers, where he formed a lethal new-ball partnership with Mitchell Johnson in Test cricket, it wasn’t a call made lightly by the then 28-year-old state cricketer.

In his playing days at South Australia, the right-arm quick played 79 games for SA across all three formats.

By his own self-assessment, Harris was an “idiot” during a period of time he was with the team formerly known as the Redbacks. His honest admission came from the fact that he “went pretty hard” in enjoying himself off the field in antics that “nearly cost a career”.

Having excelled at Queensland after learning lessons in SA, the head coach does feel an urge to give back to a state that gave him significant opportunities while he was playing the sport.

“Deep down, I probably owe them a little bit,” he says. “They did give me that opportunity to start being a professional cricketer. I wouldn’t say I wasted four or five years, but I probably wasted a couple years of that. I felt as though when I left, I was starting to get to the top of my game.

“I guess there’s a little thing inside me just thinking that I do owe these guys a bit … but coming in and getting the job now has just been amazing.

“This will be my second year as head coach, and I still feel there’s a lot of unfinished business. I’m not looking to finish in the next couple of years … and I feel as though this place has given me a start in cricket for my professional playing career and now also in my coaching career. I feel as though I have repaid them a bit, but I’m still not finished.” 

The task of claiming back-to-back Shield trophies is an objective South Australia have not once achieved in the competition’s 133-year history.

Considering the calibre of players who have played for them, including Don Bradman, Garry Sobers, Clem Hill, Ian Chappell and the competition’s most-prolific run-scorer, Darren Lehmann, it’s a remarkable stat for a state so invested in maintaining long-term first-class success.

And Harris is constantly contemplating how to educate his side on what it means to play for a state that many of them didn’t grow up in.

“I thought a lot about that when I was coming into the job,” Harris said. “With players that are not necessarily from South Australia, what does it mean to play for the red cap? I’ve sort of got that up my sleeve for the next year or two … I’m sure most of the guys would probably know that back-to-back hasn’t happened.

“I know a little bit about the history of South Australia having been here a long time and knowing there was a bit of suffering. History is really important to this place.”

To achieve more history, South Australia will need to win this season’s final from outside their state’s border.

With Victoria securing hosting rights for the March 26-30 decider, SA know they’ll have to win the title in different circumstances this season.

In order to get there, it is likely that Harris’ men will need to win both of their remaining fixtures starting with New South Wales at Karen Rolton Oval.

Win that and they may still need to beat the top-of-the-table Vics in Melbourne.

South Australia’s Sheffield Shield titles (14): 1893-94, 1909-10, 1912-13, 1926-27, 1935-36, 1938-39, 1952-53, 1963-64, 1968-69, 1970-71, 1975-76, 1981-82, 1995-96, 2024-25

“They’ve been the best team,” Harris said of Victoria. “They’re a very good side … I’d probably compare them to where we were last year. We were just really consistent and played really good cricket.

“I think we had sixteen hundreds and a lot of five-wicket hauls, so when you’ve got guys playing consistently, you know your team’s going well. I think that’s what we did last year and I reckon they’ve just done that this year.”

The prospect of playing the ladder-leading Victorians in an away final may seem daunting, but for Harris and SA, they see an opportunity to knock off their arch-rivals on their home deck.

“The added incentive this year is Victoria,” Harris said. “If we’re going to win it, we’ve got to do it in Victoria. It’d be pretty cool to win over there against my old mate, (Vics head caoch) Chris Rogers. It would be nice.

“Ultimately, it’s hard, it’s bloody hard to win Shields … if we’re able to get that opportunity to play the Vics, no doubt it’d be satisfying.”

Knowing just how tight the race to the Shield final is, Harris is determined to ensure his players stay connected in a pivotal point of the season.

“They’re a great, tight group,” Harris said. “Their will to win and succeed, you can’t buy that … they want to have an opportunity to have that feeling again of holding the trophy. The hunger is there and the determination is there.

“The way we’ve trained this week is probably the best week of training we’ve had in a long time.”

While Harris prepares to pursue history this month, his long-term ambitions are clear. This is a team that’s in it to win it, for the now and for the future.

“It’s funny, I heard a quote this morning coming from Ken Hinkley (former AFL coach),” Harris said.

“He said, you enjoy winning for 45 minutes and then you’re thinking about the next part. Whereas losing seems to last a week. You always want to win, and once you win, you celebrate. That’s cool, but then, when are you going to do it again?

“That’s how I’ve felt this year compared to last year… this is cool, but far out, I’d like to do it again.”

Lead image: Jack Dilks/SACA

Sheffield Shield 2025-26 standings