AFL 2023: Inside Ross Lyon sequel as St Kilda coach reveals he has returned with ‘different lens’
Ross Lyon says he has returned to coaches box for his Saints sequel with a ‘different lens’. And a pre-game exchange with broadcasters showed just that.
It was the premiere of the St Kilda Ross the Boss sequel Saints fans are hoping will become a blockbuster hit and the first screening delivered what the club’s audience wanted.
Starring Ross Lyon in his second stint as coach at Moorabbin, the returning Saints coach got his St Kilda homecoming off to a dream start in a coaching comeback that he described as “surreal”.
Cracking jokes pre-game and appearing relaxed and at ease following the Saints’ 15-point win over his former team Fremantle, Lyon admitted he had returned to the coaches box with a “different lens” this time around.
The premiere of his sequel wasn’t without its challenges, with 14 players on the club’s injury list, including the team’s two frontline forwards.
But the Saints showed spunk and a defensive determination to usher in the new Lyon era in a first-up performance that exceeded most expectations.
The moment was not lost on Lyon after the match.
“It all felt a bit surreal to be honest,” Lyon said of his coaching return.
“It really is a privilege. I don’t think I have ever sat in that where I felt it was just a job - and a lot of pressure - whether it be at the Saints or in the west.
“I have come back through choice, I feel fully supported, as I was at the Dockers by the way.
“It’s getting in there and the feedback is going to get better and I feel like I’m working hard to get better with my coaches and the playing group and the whole club to be honest.
“It was great to see (president) Andrew Bassat present four debutants for the club and two debutants in the AFL. I think we will keep bringing all that together.”
In his first premiership season game in charge since returning to the club, Lyon exuded a relaxed demeanour before strapping on the headphones for his coaching comeback.
As he strolled the grass-green carpet pre-game, Lyon was in a jovial mood as he joined in the joke with Fox Sports hosts about the club’s tongue-in-cheek dual debutant announcement, which poked fun at the club’s infamous audio mishap earlier this month.
When it was suggested to Lyon that he would not have partaken in such a gag in his first stint at the club, Lyon quipped back.
“I think you judge me too hard,” the Saints’ said. “Behind closed doors (I’m) always cuddly, occasionally terse, but very nervous and excited today.”
Asked when he reverted to the “mean”, Lyon added: “Very quickly. When the ball is bounced”.
While North Melbourne counterpart Alastair Clarkson opted to coach from the boundary line for his coaching return on Saturday, Lyon took up position in the coaches box to orchestrate the moves against the club he coached from 2012 to 2019.
He was given a swift welcome back to the coaching caper when the Dockers put the first goal on the board within the opening 90 seconds of the game.
Lyon was straight on the phone as he gesticulated towards the ground through the window. It would be 10 minutes before he could enjoy the first goal celebration of his coaching return courtesy of Jade Gresham.
As St Kilda took an eight-point lead into the first change, Lyon took time before addressing his players at the break, chatting to coaching staff first and shifting magnets on the board.
Calm pre-game demeanour was tested in the coaches box in the second quarter when the Saints were twice penalised for dissent .
The biggest issue facing Lyon in his coaching return was always going to be how the Saints would score goals in the absence of his two frontline forwards Max King and Tim Membrey.
In a low-scoring battle, they were initially hard to come by, especially with Docker Brennan Cox cleaning up in the backline with 20 marks.
Forced to get creative, he used defender Zaine Cordy forward, while Mason Wood (two goals), Mitch Owens (two) and Jade Gresham (two) filled the scoring void.
Down by seven points at the final change, Lyon kept the Saints’ players in the huddle long after the Dockers’ group had broken up, but whatever he said worked.
The Saints rolled over the top of Fremantle in a four-goal to nothing final term.
Despite the weight of a first-up win in his coaching return, there were subdued celebrations in the coaches box after the final siren as Lyon stood up to shake each of the hands of his coaching team.
In the rooms after the match, Lyon stood on to the side with his arms crossed and a broad smile on his face as the players belted out their theme song before taking them straight into the team meeting.
After emerging from the meeting he pulled first-gamer Mattaes Phillipou aside for a quick chat and put an arm on his shoulder to congratulate him on his first-up performance.
Lyon was quick to thank the effort of his players and his coaching staff in his post-match press conference, but was reflective about his coaching return.
“It’s hard to put into words to be honest,” Lyon said.
“I have certainly come back with a different lens. (I’m) a lot more balanced and understand the job that’s in front of us.
“I’m really enjoying it because I’m delegating more balance and I’m not as manic trying to do all those things.
“So it just allows me to work on the dynamic of the group really well and build those relationships so that has been a real shift for me.”
Pre-season production of the sequel hadn’t all been completely smooth sailing.
There was the pre-Christmas shoulder injury to star forward King, which is set to keep the spearhead on the sidelines until round seven.
Then there was the unexpected departure of football manager Geoff Walsh in late January due to family reasons just months after joining the club.
The production hit the headlines again earlier this month when audio from the coaches’ box during its practice match against Essendon was unwittingly shared with the league.
Concerns over how the Saints were going to score in King’s absence were compounded when fellow forward Membrey was ruled out of the opening round with a knee injury at the top of a lengthy injury list.
The first-round win put some of that to the side, but Lyon’s been around enough to know a season is a long campaign.
“It’s really important to win your first one to get some belief and some confidence,” Lyon said.
“We know it gets hard from here … it doesn’t get any easier.
“We got together, we sang the song and we celebrated and we’ll start preparing from tonight as coaches … we’ll review the game and move on.”
Clarko’s boundary patrol draws NBA, EPL comparisons
— Scott Gullan
The guitar hasn’t come out yet, there was a bit of Bruce Springsteen in the pre-game but still no spray.
Alistair Clarkson was playing it cool in his return to coaching on a strange afternoon under the roof at Marvel Stadium that ended with a nailbiting victory over the West Coast Eagles.
While it won’t feature highly in his 365-game CV, the importance of the young Roos hanging on to win his first game in charge of his old club wasn’t lost in a jubilant changerooms afterwards.
Hugh Greenwood had heard all the stories about the coaching guru, his penchant for pulling out the guitar in meetings for a singalong and his legendary sprays when things go astray.
But all he’s seen in the six months Clarkson has been at Arden St is a calm and concise mentor who is focused on bringing North Melbourne back to its old glory days.
“We haven’t seen the guitar yet, that’s another one I’m waiting for,” Greenwood said. “We got a bit of Bruce Springsteen before the game, he loves a bit of Bruce.
“You could tell he was excited but he was trying to be cool. I’m not sure he knew what to expect and he was painting like, of course we want to win but if we don’t we just want to see improvements in our brand, it might be now, it might be Round 20, it might be two years.
“But we all know he is a competitive prick so I think he really wanted to win of course.
“He has been really cool, calm and collected and just worked on relationships stuff. You hear things externally but we haven’t copped a spray yet, we know it is coming eventually but he is just so clear and concise, he sees the game so differently.
“You get this perception of what he is like from the outside but from the inside he has been so level-headed and relaxed.”
Clarkson coached from the interchange bench in his second coming but he didn’t do it like other AFL coaches who seem to sit there most of the time with a handset on talking to their assistants upstairs.
Instead he spent a lot of time in the crouched position surveying what was happening on the ground or pacing up and down. It had a fair whiff of the NBA — Clarkson spent time with Steve Kerr at the Golden State Warriors in his gap year — and the EPL about it.
Greenwood didn’t miss it. “He has been overseas watching too much basketball and too much soccer, he was doing what they do, patrolling the sideline doing their thing.”
After a double fist pump when the siren sounded, there was no sprinting out into the middle to celebrate with his players. Instead the four-time premiership coach wandered 10 metres onto the ground and stood there by himself.
Eventually some of his players came over and Greenwood got an extra big hug from the coach given the role he’d just played for him.
The former Crow and Suns midfielder was called in to the coach’s office on Thursday and told he would be playing as the back-up ruck because they’d decided to go into the season opener with just one recognised ruckman Tristian Xerri.
That decision backfired on Clarkson 20 minutes in when Xerri went down with a serious ankle injury and had to be assisted from the ground.
“He approached me on Thursday afternoon and said we’re going to go with X (Xerri) in the ruck and you might be 190cm but you have long arms and a basketball background,” Greenwood said.
“The old basketball background came out again and he said we just need you to make a contest because once it hits the deck you become another midfielder for us. Little did I know it was going to be a full game.”
Afterwards he called the entire playing list, some even with their kids, into the coach’s room for a private moment. “That is the one club mentality, the culture he is trying to build,” Greenwood said.
When asked what the one ingredient Clarkson had brought to the Roos, Greenwood fired back one word straight away: “Belief”.
He then added: “And a lot of Bruce.”
SHEEZEL SIZZLES ON DEBUT
Luke Davies-Uniacke was outstanding in the middle for the Kangaroos but it was the debutant Sheezel who would have most delighted North Melbourne fans burnt by the Jason Horne-Francis saga last year.
The third pick in the 2022 draft, the 18-year-old was in the thick of the action from the start and finished with 34 disposals.
His decision making and poise were pleasing. He displayed an ability to win the hard ball and also worked away from the contest to provide dash.
Zheezel was not the only young Kangaroo to provide a spark. With Tristan Xerri injured early, the responsibility for rucking fell to Charlie Comben and Hugh Greenwood.
Eagle Bailey Williams dominated the ruck hit-outs, but Comben battled hard and offered an option in attack, with a flourish in the third term an example.
Tom Powell was active in the midfield, Paul Curtis was lively in attack, while Miller Bergman and Josh Goater also showed promise and looked like players of the future.
With Courtney Walsh
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