St Kilda chief executive Carl Dilena has taken the rare step of turning the heat on the Saints, and has backed Ross Lyon’s decision to shed his cuddly cape.
The Saints have slipped to 13th on the ladder and are under growing pressure to remain in touch with the top eight heading into Friday night’s clash with Fremantle at Marvel Stadium.
An impressive three wins from four games to start the season, including a stirring victory over Geelong, has made way for three straight defeats, the latest a lethargic 45-point loss to the Brisbane Lions when Lyon gave his team a verbal bake at quarter-time, and was again vocal in his post-match address.
Frustrated: St Kilda coach Ross Lyon made his feelings clear to his players during Saturday’s loss to the Brisbane Lions.Credit: Getty Images
When it comes to the bigger picture, the Saints have a win-loss record of 27-27 under Lyon, now in his third season of his second stint at the club, with frustration intensifying.
While launching the annual Spud’s Game, against Carlton, on Monday, Dilena, a former Fitzroy and North Melbourne player, admitted it was a frustrating time at Moorabbin.
“It’s a bit of a bumpy road, I think. We always knew it would be up and down, you don’t have that straight-line, linear progression towards improvement. So you do go through moments like we are, at the moment, where it is a bit frustrating, and you think we are not performing to what we should be,” Dilena said.
“Early in the season, we had some great wins, against Geelong and Port – and that really set the tone. But it also raises the expectations, [and] then you have a down week. We have hit some pretty strong opposition.
“I think we are getting beaten up in the midfield battle, not getting the ball going our way, and that’s being reflected in getting some pretty extreme inside-50 counts the last couple of weeks. We have got to turn that around, we have got to start winning the ball, and fixing up our defence, which has been a bit leaky.”
Saturday’s loss was the first time since Lyon returned to Moorabbin that the Saints had conceded more than 100 points for three weeks in a row.
Lyon’s frustration was evident when he made a bold, early call and subbed off Hugo Garcia, 19, in the second term and replaced him with veteran Zak Jones.
Fan footage later emerged of Lyon giving Garcia and Ryan Byrnes an almighty spray on the bench, particularly towards Garcia.
Dilena said Lyon was within his rights to have taken aim at Garcia.
“Personally, I would just make a personal comment – I love that aspect,” Dilena said.
“Anyone that has been a parent and has dealt with kids, you can cuddle them and nurture them as much as you like, but occasionally, occasionally, there might be a couple of stern words that go in there as well.
“Ross is an experienced coach. He is just driven to get the absolute best out of our players, and raise the standards of our club. For him, being very tolerant and very cuddly for a while – for him to occasionally come out and give someone a bake, I think that is good.”
Lyon’s decision to activate his substitute so early – he later said during a prickly press conference that he “pulled the sub to get something done” – ultimately meant the Saints were a man short on the interchange when Mason Wood was concussed late in the game.
Injured defender Zaine Cordy, who did not play on Saturday and was not in the team meeting, praised Lyon for showing “that he cares and wants us to do well”.
“We have got certain expectations, we probably haven’t been living up to them,” Cordy, nursing a pectoral injury, said.
While Lyon, a four-time grand final coach, said he knows what the “promised land” looks like, the Saints are mired in the middle rungs of the ladder.
They have been rebuffed in their attempts to snare established rival talent, including Jacob Weitering, Finn Callaghan, Jordan De Goey, Zach Merrett and Luke Davies-Uniacke.
They have a reported whopping $1.7 million per season deal before Carlton ruckman Tom De Koning, although veteran club recruiters Stephen Silvagni and Graeme Allan have, even internally, attempted to keep their plans a closely guarded secret, apart from acknowledging they have considerable cap space to work with.
Dilena said the Saints would continue to pursue elite talent.
“All clubs, including ourselves, are in the market all the time looking for talent to bring in – we have made no secret of that,” he said.
“We will keep doing what we can to bring as much talent as we can to the club.”
Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter
