St Kilda considers Ross Lyon for top job as questions raised over ‘culture problem’
The Saints “need to start thinking differently about who should be leading” as Ross Lyon floated for coaching job, academics say.
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ST Kilda has been put on notice over the pending appointment of Ross Lyon as senior coach, with a leading academic believing the club has a “culture problem”.
Saints chiefs have refused to answer questions about a payment made to a former junior female Fremantle staff member over alleged sexual harassment when Ross Lyon was coach.
The courting of Lyon follows the club’s failed attempt to recruit Collingwood bad boy Jordan De Goey and the recent elevation of Simon Lethlean to chief executive after he left the AFL following an office affair scandal.
Dr Adele Pavlidis, a Griffith University senior lecturer who investigates social issues in sport, said she believed: “St Kilda has a culture problem. They need to start thinking differently about who should be leading.”
Lyon is the short priced favourite, with the St Kilda coaching job among the topics discussed on Lindsay Fox’s $5 million 85th birthday cruise from New York to Montreal in September.
Brett Ratten was sacked as coach last week – just months after he was re-signed for two years – because the club did not believe he would win a premiership.
The Herald Sun has this week put questions to St Kilda president Andrew Bassat, and board members Jennifer Douglas and Sarah Lowe in regards to circumstances surrounding Lyon’s messy exit from the Dockers.
Mr Bassat, co-founder of Seek, and Ms Lowe, a managing partner at top-tier professional services firm Ernst and Young, directed the questions to the club’s public relations team.
The club’s media manager Ana Raica said in response to written questions about Lyon and the Fremantle sexual harassment complaint, or whether Lyon was approached before Ratten was sacked: “The Club is currently in the process of filling the vacancy of its senior coaching role and will provide an update when appropriate.”
Lyon addressed the Fremantle sexual harassment complaint, which resulted in a six-figure payout, last year when his name was floated for the top job at the Carlton football club.
“But what I can say is, and I said at the time when I addressed things in Fremantle, the duress and the hurt that a lot of parties were feeling, I felt terrible,” he said on Footy Classified.
“I need to say this; there was a respectful and confidential resolution reached and designed to protect all parties.
“The reason it’s respectful as well is because it is confidential. My intention is to respect that and not comment any further.”
In 2018, when the sexual harassment matter was exposed, AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said: “There’s a wide series of options available for getting resolution. There are many cases that are resolved confidentially.”
Dr Pavlidis said St Kilda, and all AFL clubs, needed diversity.
“We don’t just need more women in AFL clubs because some women will toe the line, what we need is a shift in culture,” she said.
“We need people with different backgrounds. If we didn’t have the AFLW then we wouldn’t be having this conversation but they’re just doing so much in speaking out and it shouldn’t be all on those players to be the saving grace of the league”.
Dr Pavlidis suggested St Kilda was unlikely to win a premiership with its current culture. “Something needs to shift if their culture for them to win, with the culture they have at the moment I can’t see them doing well or for them all, including their women’s teams, feeling a strong sense of commitment or belonging,” she said.
Deakin University’s Dr Kim Toffoletti, a leading figure in the study of women in sport, said boards needed to consider gender issues when making senior leadership appointments.
“AFL clubs have to think about the kinds of appointments they make,” she said.
“A reflection on gender issues is required and that’s something that boards need to think about.
“It’s clear there are now stakeholders calling for transparency. Fans are demanding more transparency.”
Lethlean left the AFL in July 2017 after it was revealed he had a relationship with a junior female employee.
He was once touted as a successor to McLachlan, who has announced his plans to leave as AFL chief executive.
De Goey stayed at Collingwood despite a strong offer from the Saints.
His future at the Pies was put under a cloud after he was charged in New York over a nightclub incident and a video of him partying in Bali went viral.
De Goey plead guilty to harassment, which did not carry a conviction, and agreed to undergo anger management training after his charges were downgraded in January.
Lyon did not return calls or a text message on Thursday.
stephen.drill@news.com.au
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