SAINT ROSS BORN-AGAIN
Lyon reveals messy past as he prepares for Moorabbin return
ROSS Lyon joked when he first returned to coach against St Kilda he was so maligned by the fans he might need a “spray jacket” to protect himself.
Eleven years since Lyon was labelled “deceitful, duplicitous and distasteful” for jumping ship for Fremantle, he has roared into strong favouritism to return as Saints coach.
But the manner of his initial exit could have some St Kilda fans wondering whether he would be accepted with open arms more than a decade on.
While Lyon is awaiting an official overture, it would be a shock if the Saints did not have a firm view of the kind of program he would put in place as they seek a harder, tougher edge.
The fullest explanation of Lyon’s extraordinary move to Fremantle emerged in a radio interview in August when Lyon finally laid bare his own version of events for the decision to take up a $3.2m, fouryear deal at the Dockers.
Lyon painted a volcanic picture of a St Kilda board reluctant to recontract him during his messy 2011 exit.
He also detailed how his management group was unwilling to reveal Melbourne’s interest in explaining his shock decision to depart the Saints for the Dockers.
Eleven years later Lyon is expected to be officially contacted by the Saints this year to gauge his interest in a return to the club, with the 55-year-old a hot favourite to take over from Brett Ratten.
In the revealing interview on Triple M radio he said he felt he had been deceived by multiple parties in the lead-up to his move to Fremantle, with his wife Kirsten emerging from a meeting with management group Elite Sports Properties saying of the discussions: “This is bulls---”.
While St Kilda eventually offered him a three-year extension on the day he resigned, he said he had rebuffed Freo multiple times until he had no other option but to accept.
“I had committed in my head to St Kilda without an offer and there was a lot of noise that Melbourne were interested in me,” Lyon said.
“I had a year to go (on my existing Saints contract but) we couldn’t come to terms.”
After successive grand-final years, St Kilda had started the season with only one win and a draw to round 8 as talks for an extension past 2012 were put on hold, then stagnated, with Lyon moving from manager Ricky Nixon to Craig Kelly.
“SOS (Stephen Silvagni) was great mates with manager Craig Kelly so he organised a meeting and we went across. Craig took over and he said, ‘can you bring in your current contract?’,” Lyon said.
“So I went in and they went through it and they said, ‘You know you have got a clause in here where you can exit? You can just give notice, three months’.
“I said, ‘I know but I won’t use it’. Next minute it was in the paper. Don’t know how it got there. And that’s how Fremantle (got wind).
“(Fremantle CEO) Steve Rosich said, ‘I want to come to your house’. I said, ‘I am not going anywhere. I was coaching St Kilda’.
“But he came to my house and went through it. I dropped him back at the Rialto and said, ‘Thanks but no thanks’.”
As talks with St Kilda broke down, things became messy. Lyon’s plan to honour his contract for 12 months then consider his options was shaky.
Fed up, he rang Rosich. “(He) said we will come back to you with an offer at 6am tomorrow. It was fully guaranteed. And then the St Kilda offer came in but mentally I was out because of what had occurred. That is what occurred.”