Fremantle star Andrew Brayshaw has offered some hilarious advice to St Kilda players as Ross Lyon looms as the man to take over as head coach.
Brayshaw revealed his friend, and former Haileybury school mate, Max King reached out on Thursday trying to “get a feel” for what Lyon was like as a coach.
Lyon was Brayshaw’s first coach in the AFL at Fremantle, before he was sacked with one round to go in the 2019 season.
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“My first couple of years at the club were with Ross and absolutely loved it. He taught me a lot of life lessons being just an 18-year-old schoolboy coming into the league,” Brayshaw said at a Fremantle press conference for their new sponsor Bankwest.
“I think St Kilda would be very lucky to have him.
“One of my mates Max King rung me yesterday. I missed him (with the call). I think he wants to get a feel for what Ross is like.”
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Brayshaw laughed when asked what advice he’d offer King and the Saints playing group.
“Put your head down and work really hard. (Lyon) values hard work,” Brayshaw said smiling.
“He loves seeing people that are as invested in football as he is.
“My advice to Max would just be, work your arse off mate!”
Brayshaw, the league’s reigning MVP and now Doig Medallist as Dockers best and fairest, said he was “very happy” to hear Lyon could be returning to the coaching ranks.
“Playing my first game under him, some of the chats I had with him when I was just finding my way in the AFL, he put me on the right path I think and I owe a lot of my football success to him,” he said.
“I think he’s got a really good ability to bring the best out of players.
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“He was able to show me the path of what it takes to really bring the best out of yourself.
“He pushes his players every day to be the best versions of themselves. Whether that’s training, on the track, in the gym, being focused during meetings, he’s really big on off-field as well.
“He’s definitely the sort of coach who will get the best out of you no matter what.”
Brayshaw’s comments echo the praise of another former Docker in Garrick Ibbotson, who this week said Lyon would be “great” for the Saints.
“What he’s done really well, even looking back at Freo … it’s not getting the best out of (Nat) Fyfe, (David) Mundy, (Matthew) Pavlich etc. It’s the middle five to 20 (players) that he gets the best out of,” he said on SEN WA.
“He might be harsh sometimes, but if you’re going to play professional sport and make a career out of it, if he’s going to be hard on you, I think you need to take it on board.”
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Fox Footy’s David King this week said Saints players could “bank” on Lyon being a “disciplinarian” should he be appointed in the coming days.
“It’s going to be defence first – we know it wins games, it’s not as pretty as other models,” he said on SEN.
“I think it’s a great appointment.”
