AFL 2022: Ross Lyon lifts lid on why he joined Fremantle in a bombshell 2011 move

The inside story of why Ross Lyon walked out on St Kilda 11 years ago, and how the current regime has mended bridges with the former coach.

PERTH, AUSTRALIA – AUGUST 20: Ross Lyon speaks to the media during a press conference following the announcement of his sacking from the Fremantle Dockers on August 20, 2019 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

Ross Lyon joked when he first returned to coach against St Kilda he was so maligned by the fan base he might need a “spray jacket” to protect himself.

Eleven years since Lyon was labelled “deceitful, duplicitous and distasteful” for jumping ship for Fremantle’s millions, he has roared into strong favouritism to return as coach.

It certainly isn’t unprecedented — Bobby Rose had twin stints at Collingwood and Tony Jewell won a flag at Richmond, was sacked 12 months later and still returned for 44-game stint in 1986-7.

What Lyon would be hoping to emulate would be David Parkin’s second stint at Carlton — a 235-game, flag-winning tenure that saw him elevated into the club’s Hall of Fame.

But the manner of his initial exit could have some St Kilda fans wondering whether he would be accepted with open arms more than a decade on.

The Herald Sun understands St Kilda president Andrew Bassat has shared bottles of red wine until late into the night with Lyon on at least one occasion in recent months as they mulled the club’s serial mediocrity.

While Lyon is awaiting the club’s official overtures, it would be a shock if they did not have a firm view of the kind of program he would put in place as they seek a harder, tougher edge.

The fullest explanation of Lyon’s extraordinary move to Fremantle emerged in a radio interview in August when Lyon finally laid bare his own version of events for the decision to take up a $3.2 million, four-year deal at the Dockers.

Lyon painted a volcanic picture of a St Kilda board reluctant to recontract him during his messy 2011 exit from the Saints.

He also detailed how his management group was unwilling to reveal Melbourne’s interest in explaining his shock decision to depart the Saints for the Dockers.

Eleven years later Lyon is expected to be officially contacted by the Saints this year to gauge his interest in a return to the club, with the 55-year-old a hot favourite to take over from Brett Ratten.

Ross Lyon has laid bare his own version of events for his decision to take up a $3.2 million, four-year deal at the Dockers back in 2011.

In the revealing interview on Triple M radio he said he felt he had been deceived by multiple parties in the lead-up to his move, with his wife Kirsten emerging from a meeting with management group Elite Sports Properties saying of the discussions: “This is bulls***”.

While St Kilda eventually offered him a three-year extension on the day he resigned, he said he rebuffed Fremantle multiple times until he had no other option but to accept their deal.

“I had committed in my head to St Kilda without an offer and there was a lot of noise that Melbourne were interested in me,” Lyon reflected.

“I had a year to go (on my contract), we couldn’t come to terms and it had been going all year.”

After successive grand final seasons St Kilda had started the season with only one win and a draw to round 8 as talks for an extension past 2012 were put on hold, then stagnated, with Lyon moving from manager Ricky Nixon to Craig Kelly.

“SOS (Stephen Silvagni) was great mates was manager Craig Kelly so he organised a meeting and we went across. Craig took over and he said can you bring in your current contract?” Lyon said.

Ross Lyon speaks to the media after being sacking from the Dockers in 2019.

“So I went in and they went through it and they said, “You know you have got a clause in here where you can exit? You can just give notice, three months? 

“I said, ‘I know but I won’t use it’. Next minute it was in the paper. Don’t know how it got there. And that’s how Fremantle (got wind).

“(Fremantle CEO) Steve Rosich said I want to come to your house. I said I am not going anywhere. I was coaching St Kilda.

“But he came to my house and went through it. I dropped him back at the Rialto (Hotel) and said, ‘Thanks but no thanks’.

“Then we went and lost the first final. We lost and still hadn’t come to terms and Rosich rang again. He said, ‘I am coming to town’, and I said, ‘Don’t worry about it, I am fine, I am not interested’.

“Negotiations with St Kilda were breaking down, they were going nowhere. And Melbourne was in the background and it was coming through Paul Roos and Garry Lyon.

“I had a meeting with Craig Kelly. I asked Craig and he said, “(Melbourne) have got no interest.

“He said, ‘No one has got any interest’, and we knew it wasn’t quite the truth, me and my wife.

“(Craig) said, ‘Don’t worry about it, do the 12 months and we will get you to GWS or somewhere else’. I went, ‘Yep, no problem’, and walked out. And my wife went, ‘This is bullshit’. I said, ‘Relax, it’s all good, that is what I am going to do’.

“So there was all this noise about Melbourne and I drove down to see (St Kilda CEO) Michael (Nettlefold) and this is the bit not many know and hopefully Michael remembers this.

“I said, ‘I am not going to accept what you have put there, I am going to do my 12 months’.

“And he said, ‘Ross, I don’t think we can do that’. I said, ‘What do you mean?’.

“And he said, ‘No’.

Then St Kilda chief executive Michael Nettlefold with Lyon at a 2010 press conference.

Lyon’s plan to honour his contract then consider his options was suddenly on shaky ground with the pair deciding to sleep on the contract conundrum and reassess.

“And so then that night there were articles in the Herald Sun and Age saying ‘Ross is being greedy, Ross has been offered $800,000,’ Lyon recalled. 

“I flipped out. And I rang Craig Kelly in the morning and said, ‘They can’t be trusted, I have had enough, I am out. I would rather dig ditches …’ 

“So I went to my lawyer and said, ‘I am done here’, and that’s when an offer came in (from St Kilda).

“I said, ‘I have had a gutful, I have been turned on, so in my head I am done’. 

“Steve (Rosich) took my call and said we will come back to you with an offer at 6am tomorrow.

“It was fully guaranteed. And then the St Kilda offer came in but mentally I was out because of what had occurred. That is what occurred. 

“And I rang Michael Nettlefold and said, ‘I am coming down to see you’. 

“They had a board meeting (to approve Lyon’s three-year contract extension). He said, ‘What’s it about?’.

“I said, ‘It’s not good’. So I walked down, I had a letter, I said I am exercising my option. He said, ‘Can we talk about this’. I said, “I am done”. And I walked out and that was it. That is the full story.”

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Originally published as AFL 2022: Ross Lyon lifts lid on why he joined Fremantle in a bombshell 2011 move