St Kilda coach Ross Lyon says his team’s clash with Collingwood will test how much work the reigning premiers have done

St Kilda coach Ross Lyon is adamant his team has done the work to be successful in 2024, and one clash could answer that question.

Ross Lyon says the AFL is a brutal competition. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

The leadership injection of St Kilda star Jack Sinclair will boost his team’s chances of testing how “buttoned down” battling Collingwood’s system is after the reigning premiers were “pulled apart a little bit” in last weekend’s demolition by Sydney.

St Kilda coach Ross Lyon turned up the heat on the 0-2 Magpies ahead of Thursday’s MCG showdown, adamant his team had done the work to elevate their game to the level necessary to take down Craig McRae’s men, with questions starting to emerge about their early season efforts.

But when asked on Tuesday if he believed the Magpies, who have already played twice this season amid suggestions they were still enjoying their success, had done the same work, Lyon was emphatic.

“We’re about to find out,” he said.

“They are just trying to button down their system. The trust it, but like us, there’s a few hiccups to get through.”

Lyon referenced a 0-10 start to the 2016 season when he was coach of Fremantle, after reaching the preliminary final the year before, as evidence that no teams, not even the premiers, can just “flick the switch” and find their best quickly.

“You just don’t flick a switch in AFL footy,” he said.

“You have either done the work or you haven’t and you can either bring it to life or you can’t. It’s a brutal competition.”

Jack Sinclair is back for the Saints. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

Sinclair, the dual All-Australian and reigning St Kilda best and fairest, is set to play his first game for the season having overcome a calf injury and Lyon said his importance went beyond his skills with ball in hand.

Having just come up short against Geelong last weekend, Lyon said Sinclair could provide the steadying influence that Collingwood had through its “on-field generals”.

“When things are wobbly, you can see (Scott) Pendlebury, (Steele) Sidebottom, Jeremy Howe, they are great on-field generals,” Lyon said.

“We were almost the youngest team in the AFL last week. We had 10 players under 50 games, so that’s exciting we could stand up but that leadership on field is really important for us.”

A camera hit & a boot thrown, there were some strange moments in round one!

Executive GM of Footy Laura Kane discusses all the big talking points with @sarahjolle on Footy Feed. https://t.co/hA3r0fGI9p

— AFL (@AFL) March 18, 2024

Sinclair looks set to come in for Liam Stocker, who was still feeling the pain of his collision with Geelong captain Patrick Dangerfield last week despite an assertion from AFL football boss that she was pleased players “didn’t leave injured or hurt from that”.

Kane made the statement as she defended the decision by the umpires to award a free kick against Stocker for making contact below Dangerfield’s knees.

Stocker had to leave the field after the incident and spent close to 10 minutes on the bench, and St Kilda football boss David Misson said Stocker would have to prove his fitness to take on the Magpies.

St Kilda forward Dan Butler is also in line to play his first game of the season in the VFL.

“Like Jack, Dan also has to get through training to make himself available,” Misson said.

“It’s likely that should he get through, his return to play will be through the VFL, but we’re not ruling anything out just yet.”

Originally published as St Kilda coach Ross Lyon says his team’s clash with Collingwood will test how much work the reigning premiers have done