St Kilda star Jade Gresham’s reaction to an Anthony Caminiti goal is the type of action coach Ross Lyon wouldn’t like to see, according to five-time All-Australian Garry Lyon.
Gresham and Caminiti were involved in an interesting exchange during their team’s tough loss to Collingwood on Sunday in Adelaide — the Saints’ first loss of the year.
Three goals in three minutes at the end of the fourth quarter brought the Adelaide Oval crowd to life as the margin came crashing down with less than a minute to play before Collingwood held on to claim a 10.10 (70) to 9.10 (64) win.
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Earlier in the match, Fox Footy cameras caught the moment Caminiti ignored Gresham before running into the open goals and kicking an uncontested goal.
Gresham was screaming for the ball as Caminiti turned towards the goal. He appeared to look absolutely filthy as Caminiti ran past him after dribbling the ball through, with Gresham not celebrating with his teammate.
Speaking on Fox Footy’s On The Couch, AFL greats Lyon, Jonathan Brown and Nathan Buckley all said they weren’t fans of Gresham’s behaviour.
Lyon said it was the sort of behaviour Ross Lyon would want to eliminate.
“These are the little changes that he’s hoping to make,” Garry Lyon told On The Couch.
“The reaction from Gresham for me is saying: ‘This is about me. Why didn’t you give it to me?’
“There was no going over to pat him on the back. There was no well done. There’s no excitement on the back of this. Goals were hard to come by at this stage. There was only six in three quarters. You celebrate the good.
“I remember the great Geelong sides going back to Cam Mooney’s days and everyone else. They got greater joy giving them rather than just taking them.
“The moment there for Gresham is not to go: ‘What about me?’ It’s to go and celebrate with him.”
Buckley pointed out that Caminiti also needed to shoulder some of the blame.
“The great Geelong side would give that handball, so I think he’s entitled to,” Buckley said of Gresham’s frustrations.
“I wonder what Caminiti is coached to do? Or what would be the conversation in the inner sanctum at St Kilda? It would be a bit of both.”
Brown also said he didn’t like what he saw.
“Gresham has to be better than that. He had a poor night,” Brown said.
Meanwhile, Buckley on Monday joined Ross Lyon in having a laugh at the moment Ben Paton snubbed Collingwood rising star Jack Ginnivan.
Lyon has brought a hard-edge to his team since returning to the club last year — and it was on show in the third quarter when Paton blatantly refused to help Ginnivan back to his feet despite the Magpies forward reaching out with his hand.
Ginnivan was left on the turf after tackling Paton before the umpires had called for the ball.
Paton stared him down and left Ginnivan hanging before Collingwood teammates eventually rushed in to help him back to his feet.
Lyon was able to smile with reporters when asked about it in the post-match press conference.
“I hadn’t thought about it. Would you have helped him up?” Lyon said with a grin.
“There’s a time for sportsmanship. I liked what Dimma (Damien Hardwick) said, it’s OK to push and shove, but there’s a time to put your head over the ball.
“I think we’ve all evolved a bit haven’t we. A lot gets said out there. A lot gets said and done. Who knows.”
Magpies ruckman Mason Cox was also seeing the funny side of it.
Ginnivan had the last laugh in his first game back after serving a suspension.
He popped up early in the last quarter to kick a crucial goal as Collingwood got a roll on booting four straight goals to lead by 22-points in the fourth quarter.
Collingwood and Essendon will duke it out on Anzac Day in front of what is expected to be a sold out MCG.
For the first time since 2000, both clubs will square off one of the AFL’s biggest days while sitting inside the top four on the ladder.
St Kilda will look to get back on the winners list when they take on Carlton at Marvel Stadium next Sunday.
It means the top four teams on the ladder will all be facing off when round six gets underway next week.
