Ross Lyon and Alastair Clarkson know well the pain of losing a Grand Final
ALASTAIR Clarkson and Ross Lyon well know the pain of losing a Grand Final and one will be burdened with another on Saturday.
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ALASTAIR Clarkson or Ross Lyon will be the official AFL Coach of the Year on Saturday.
The man who lifts the AFL premiership cup will wear the Jock McHale Medal.
The other will wear a tag not endured by a coach since Bob Rose suffered the torment of losing the 1964 grand final (by four points), the 1966 play-off (one point) and the 1970 epic (10 points) with Collingwood.
This is Clarkson’s third grand final - all with Hawthorn. He won his first in 2008 with the “great steal” against Geelong and lost last year’s grand final to an extraordinary Sydney unit. Can he afford to have his Hawthorn era marked by just one flag?
Lyon is at his fourth grand final - his first with Fremantle after three with St Kilda.
He lost his first in 2009 when St Kilda’s in-season dominance was defied by a Geelong team on the rebound from its 2008 grand final loss.
He had a tie in 2010 - and lost the replay.
Lifting the Dockers to their first AFL grand final in his second season at Fremantle is a significant achievement for Lyon who is regarded by many as the AFL’s best coach.
But how much of his reputation is tainted if there is no flag after four grand final appearances?
Lyon is hard to read while his media profile as a senior AFL coach contrasts his true personality.
But Clarkson has been philosophical about the results he has delivered to Hawthorn for some time.
It was in Adelaide, after beating the Crows on May 4 at AAMI Stadium in the lead-up to the grand final re-match with Geelong, that Clarkson sought to put his grand final results in perspective.
“Everyone is disappointed when you lose finals,” Clarkson said in a philosophical response.
“It is a tough, tough competition.
“Some years you have some luck; some years you don’t.
“We might have been the best in the home-and-away season last year, but that does not guarantee you the grand final victory. And in 2008 when we did win it, Geelong certainly was the best team in the home-and-away that year.
“So we can’t expect every time we rock up on grand final day to be the winning team. We understand they are going to be tough games.”
And, as Crows premiership coach Malcolm Blight said so well many years ago, AFL football allows for only one winner.
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