Ryder acknowledged the Dons came away from their post-match review with some mixed emotions, and while bitterly disappointed to lose, the team was encouraged with the way it pushed the reigning premier for three quarters.
"It was a good effort to stay with them for that long, but obviously we were up and we should've won the game…so we're disappointed," he said during Essendon's literacy program launch at Windy Hill on Monday afternoon,
"We knew that Geelong were going to come back fighting, which they obviously did and we couldn't keep our hands on them in the last quarter, which we were able to do for three quarters before that.
"Even though there are negatives to take out of the game and we didn't win the game, there were still a lot of positives and we still played good footy for three quarters."
Ryder, who starred in the absence David Hille last year, is eager to make his mark with his ruckman/forward partner now he is back from a serious knee injury in 2010.
"It's only been one game, but it's good to have him back out there and it provides our team with more flexibility going forward," Ryder said.
"You'll probably see us playing forward a bit more."
The Bombers take on Fremantle at Etihad Stadium on Sunday, with Ryder looking forward to coming up against former teammate Adam McPhee, who has returned to Fremantle after seven seasons with the Dons.
"It'll be interesting, so we'll see how it goes and it should be a cracker," he said.
Essendon launched a novel titled Pencil O'Reilly: Bush Champion as part of its literacy program, which was officially launched by Therese Rein, wife of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and patron of an indigenous literacy project.
