Ross Lyon addresses St Kilda’s performance, media “noise” and pressure after 0-2 start to season
Challenger Ross Lyon said St Kilda were “chasing perfection” and defended his team’s slow start to the year as he is hyped ahead of their clash with GWS in Sydney on Saturday.
Following an ambitious trade window and the recruitment of several high-profile players, the Saints lost their first two games of the season, losing to Melbourne and Collingwood.
At a press conference on Thursday morning, Lyon was asked if she was ready for the level of scrutiny that Saints’ $2 million man Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera and pricey receiver Tom De Koning (who left Carlton for $1.7 million) have received over the past two weeks.
“Well, that’s none of our business,” Lyon replied. “That’s why AFL football is abnormal. It’s not the way you do it. You’re not being scrutinized, you choose AFL football, you choose stress, you choose anxiety, you choose to be in the arena. I’m happy to be in the arena.”
“I know what will happen but you have to write your own story and traditionally both players [De Koning and Wanganeen-Milera] I wrote some really strong AFL stories.
“That’s why the AFL is high performance and abnormal. If you want normal, you step on the other side of this microphone, the other side of the fence, on the ground and chase mediocrity in your life. These guys are chasing perfection and with that comes a lot of criticism from an on-field standpoint.”
Lyon said he was focusing on improving the team’s ability to keep the ball under control through turnovers, adding that “that’s what really hurt us” and admitting the Saints were “inconsistent in some areas.”
The coach said St Kilda’s foundation was strong and answered questions about whether it would take some time for the Saints to develop energy and chemistry as a group.
“There seems to be a lot of noise, but [it] “It doesn’t show up in my algorithm,” he said.
“I heard the media department tell me there’s a lot of noise, so I can fine-tune my algorithm to feed me that stuff.”
Asked if the 2-0 start had added more pressure to his role, Lyon said: “No less than when you signed up to be an AFL coach.
“Having noise and rhetoric does not increase the pressure. The biggest pressure is internal to performance.”
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Hannah Kennelly is an award-winning sports journalist and Formula 1 writer for The Age.Connect via email.
