Mark Robinson: Ross Lyon’s return as St Kilda coach will redefine the footy club

Fifteen years after his first stint as a head coach Ross Lyon is a changed man, writes Mark Robinson, which is good because footy - and life as we know it - has changed too.

Did the Saints speak to Ross Lyon before sacking Brett Ratten?

If the backstory of how the Saints landed Ross Lyon was a movie, it would be plotted with subterfuge.

For Brett Ratten, it would be a much a simpler narrative: A murder mystery.

Despite St Kilda’s hand-on-heart declarations on Monday, does anyone truly believe St Kilda sacked Ratten on Thursday night and THEN spoke to new coach Lyon?

Nothing before that?

A sniff he might be interested? A text maybe? A little inquiry from a friend or former player?

It’s understandable why Lyon would distance himself from Ratten’s sacking because he doesn’t want to get blamed for his knifing.

No, Lyon is not to blame.

The architects, chief executive Simon Lethlean and chairman Andrew Bassat, they’re responsible.

After 10 days of discussions post-Ratten, on Monday the Saints made it official.

Ratten is gone and Rossy’s back, with a heart aching so hard he almost sounded emotional when he spoke to the TVs last week.

It will be an historically memorable decision, if not monumental.

If the Saints win the flag under Lyon, the ends will justify the means, and the Saints hierarchy led by Bassat and Lethlean will be lauded for their courage, adventure and foresight.

Did the Saints speak to Ross Lyon before sacking Brett Ratten?

If the Saints fail under Lyon, the decision will be recorded in red ink in St Kilda’s litany of coaching blunders.

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Remember when the Saints sacked Ratten for Lyon? It’s a similar dialogue which Carlton will never shake: Remember when they sacked Ratten for Malthouse? That one certainly didn’t work.

For what it’s worth, I like that Lyon is coaching again.

He has an aura, like a gunslinger, and first time round at St Kilda, when the Saints “bubble” was a thing, you never quite knew if he’d shoot you or have a whisky with you.

Then, the rugged northern suburbs product developed and almost perfected the age-old sporting culture: Us against the world.

With it came a fearsome work ethic and reputation, like, we take no prisoners on and off the field.

It’s a culture which can breed an army, but at the same time it can create cultural toxicity.

Is that what St Kilda wants? Or needs?

It is said Lyon 3.0 will be different to the two previous versions — at the Saints and then at Fremantle.

He has to be. Fifteen years on from the start of his first coaching stint, Lyon clearly is wiser, older and probably calmer, and having three teenagers clearly gives him a grasp on the workings of a young man’s mind.

Simon Lethlean, Ross Lyon and Andrew Bassat at St Kilda’s headquarters. Picture: Getty Images

Life has changed, too. The pandemic has come and gone, the workforce is less fervent and more balanced, and footy is catching up with all of it.

Geelong leads the way in that regard, as noted by Lyon on Monday.

The days of the coach being the absolutely dominating figure, maybe even menacingly, are also over.

“It’s not the way to manage a modern-day workforce if you want to get the best out of your workforce,’’ one senior club figure said.

“They want to be respected, supported.’’

That’s not saying that the first time round Lyon was the absolute dictator, who pushed and probed and pricked his players, and absolutely shaped the Saints “bubble’’. But in saying that, he didn’t coach by consensus either.

That’s about to change, Lyon said. He didn’t want to be “in the weeds’’ as much, which means he’s up to delegating more.

It’s an intriguing decision by the Saints, to go back rather than go different.

Collingwood went new and fresh with Craig McRae and he brought an attitude — friendly and open — of which perhaps Collingwood had not seen before.

McRae led a team of Leppitsch, Bolton and Skipworth, and as the face of that group, he helped manoeuvre the club out of the Buckley-McGuire stranglehold, which at the end was wound so tight, it felt like Collingwood was about to explode.

Brett Ratten was given his marching orders this month. Picture: Getty Images

McRae, and the way his team played and the way he spoke, changed Collingwood and our perception of Collingwood. The club had a serious makeover, transforming itself from being combative and acidic to being genial with promises to be better.

McRae’s unique no doubt. Just little things he does, like he would arrive at the AFL360 studio and say hello to every cameraman and shake hands with the floor manager. Every time. With a smile and a banter.

The new Damien Hardwick is the same. He once was regarded as a scowler at press conferences and now he’s a bit of a media scallywag.

It’s been a cultural shift for him and the Tigers.

Lyon’s personas have been documented. When coaching, he’s supposedly the hard a--- who demands “dog hungry’’ and “flinch hard’’ commitment to the cause.

But when he isn’t coaching, he is a knockabout who laughs hard and often.

We like Triple M Rossy. But will he allow himself to be bit-parts Triple M Rossy and most-part St Kilda Lyon?

Leigh Matthews — who spoke to Lyon during last week — has acknowledged that he was a different person when coaching. The walls go up, he says. Who you are gets lost because of the job you do.

Matthews is old-school. One of his players, McRae, is the complete opposite.

Lyon might find himself someone more like McRae than Matthews, and let’s hope so. Because with Geoff Walsh as the head football — and Walsh just might be the grumpiest man in the game — the Saints can’t have a half-grumpy combative coach as well.

Surely, that’s culturally stale and unwelcome in any sport.

Saints players at Ross Lyon’s unveiling. Picture: Michael Klein

Lyon lauded Walsh on Monday. The veteran footy man has been at Carlton, North Melbourne and Collingwood over three decades and brings high-level knowledge to assist Lyon. Despite his PR skills needing more warmth, his CV drips with success.

In sacking Ratten, the Saints said they wanted new leadership and a new voice.

No, they didn’t. The review said they wanted Lyon’s leadership and Lyon’s voice.

In a nutshell, they want a footy team which will play hard constantly. They want respect. They want to be feared and they want to be relevant. But most of all they want to compete

They won’t say it, but they should want to play footy like Collingwood: Defend to the death and attack to the hilt.

Or like the Swans, who play tough, exciting and attacking footy.

Or like the Cats, the premiers, who everyone thought couldn’t win big finals with their game plan, yet kicked 18 and 20 goals in the two most important games of the season, and topped 100 points in six of their last eight games, while giving up an average of 60 points a game.

Ross Lyon was all smiles flanked by Simon Lethlean and president Andrew Bassat. Picture: Michael Klein

“We’re all chasing Geelong,’’ Lyon sad.

Clearly, the Saints are not bringing Lyon back to play 2010 footy, which was largely defensive strangulation. Those days are gone and Lyon knows that.

The Saints will play with a level of adventure because it has to, because the game now demands it, and Lyon’s job is to lead a team of assistants and helpers to ensure that.

The new era begins with an old world line-up and Saints fans really can’t know what to expect next season.

Lyon is a gun coach, in that he tends to get the most out of his players, but we’re not sure that automatically means the list he has and the mechanics and mindset he brings will deliver the Saints a top-four finish in 2023.

Whatever happens, the Saints have ensured one thing by appointing Lyon. They will be relevant come the first bounce

Originally published as Mark Robinson: Ross Lyon’s return as St Kilda coach will redefine the footy club