Media Street: Cold war over between Ross Lyon and Gerard Whateley
Ross Lyon broke bread with a media figure who he gave a post-match bake a decade ago, showing his newfound appreciation for the media.
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One of the biggest media cold wars is over.
While there hasn’t exactly been a breaking of bread, the sight of Gerard Whateley and Ross Lyon together on the AFL 360 desk on Monday night signalled a definite thawing.
For the best part of a decade the pair haven’t spoken to each other with Lyon refusing to go on Whateley’s various shows on SEN and Fox Footy.
The bad blood started after Whateley launched a scathing attack on Lyon when he left St Kilda for Fremantle back in 2011.
He said Lyon had “damaged his brand” by pulling off a backdoor deal to land the top job at the Dockers.
“It’s absolutely deceitful, duplicitous and distasteful,” Whateley said.
Lyon has a long memory and has deliberately avoided anything to do with Whateley until Monday night.
It’s believed the thawing started a couple of years ago when the pair exchanged correspondence via text messages over a certain matter, not specifically focused on their falling out.
AFL 360 invited Lyon to appear on the show alongside Geelong coach Chris Scott and got a positive response straight away with the Saints keen to promote their 150th anniversary celebrations which are happening on Saturday at the MCG against Essendon.
Co-host Mark Robinson made mention about Lyon’s long time away from the show but there was no direct reference to the feud with Lyon fully engaged and insightful throughout.
The new “warm and cuddly” Lyon which was talked up about his second coming at the Saints has proven to be the case.
On Saturday night he broke the ice with 3AW commentator Shane McInnes who he famously called “quite brilliant” in a now infamous post-match press conference exchange almost a decade ago.
McInnes interviewed Lyon before the Saints clash with the Western Bulldogs with the pair enjoying a laugh and some jovial banter.
There is no doubt Lyon has a new appreciation for the media after stints on Channel 9’s Footy Classified and with Triple M during his two years out of the game.
AFL MEDIA VETERAN’S HOT START
JUST like his football team, veteran AFL scribe Rohan Connolly is enjoying a stellar start to the season.
The Essendon aficionado is back on the mainstream airwaves, doing a couple of segments for 3AW throughout the opening two rounds of the season.
While it hasn’t been confirmed as a permanent gig, Connolly is keeping himself busy covering games for ESPN Australia and with his Footyology website.
The former Age chief football writer had previously been a regular on SEN.
Connolly has certainly kept his profile up via the post-match Friday night press conferences where his presence has become a fascination for some in the media.
His positioning (front and centre), choice of attire (usually a loud T-shirt) and long insightful questions ensures plenty of good TV airtime.
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Originally published as Media Street: Cold war over between Ross Lyon and Gerard Whateley
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