LYON HUNGRY TO CLIMB ‘EVEREST’
ROSS RETURNS TO STEER SAINTS
ST KILDA is adamant it “ran the risk of not getting Ross Lyon”, saying it did not contact the club’s new senior coach until after the board sacked Brett Ratten.
Lyon, 55, has spent the past 10 days negotiating a fouryear contract to return to Moorabbin 11 years after his stunning defection to Fremantle.
His appointment, along with new football boss Geoff Walsh, will fuel optimism the Saints can rediscover the hard edge that came painfully close to delivering a second premiership during Lyon’s 2007-11 stint in charge.
The four-time grand final coach said St Kilda supporters were entitled to feel uneasy about his return given the nature of his exit in 2011, but urged them to give him the “opportunity to get into action”.
“We’re all only as good as the next moment,” Lyon said on Monday as he sported a St Kilda polo for the first time since 2011.
A surprise phone call from AFL legend Leigh Matthews last week encouraged Lyon to accept St Kilda’s offer after the club headhunted him exclusively.
President Andrew Bassat said the Saints had contingency plans, but an exhaustive review had uncovered a clear need for Lyon to return.
Lyon was excited by the elite runners on St Kilda’s list, which was one of the trademarks of Geelong’s runaway premiership this season.
“One thing I do know these boys can really run, so it gives us a capacity to play a brand that can go,” Lyon said.
Lyon said he still had a strong network at the club but “when I left, I dropped an Iron Curtain. When I spoke about that moment and how I felt about St Kilda I did get very emotional.”
Lyon described the Saints as a “blank canvas”, describing winning the club’s first premiership since 1966 as “an Everest that can be climbed, needs to be climbed, and I’d like to be the person to do it.”
The Saints still have an assistant coaching vacancy and Lyon is close to appointing a familiar face from his last stint in charge to join new midfield coach Lenny Hayes.
Lyon has coached 305 games for 172 wins, 128 losses and five draws. He lost 61 out of his final 92 games at the Dockers and was sacked in 2019 with a year remaining on his contract after four straight seasons out of the finals.
That decline included eight losses by 89 points or more, headlined by a 91-point loss to West Coast in the derby and a 133-point hiding by Geelong at GMHBA Stadium.
Lyon has coached four AFL grand finals, however, his teams have never kicked more than 10 goals. But Bassat said Lyon’s “unwavering pursuit of on and off-field excellence is exactly what we believe we need to take this club forward”.